A Froggy Tale
by Ms Bat
Summary: AU An arrogant prince finds himself unexpectedly transformed into a frog. Can he find a way to break the spell in spite of being surrounded by people who seem to be making things difficult for him?
1. Chapter 1

A Frog's Tale

***

Author's disclaimer: None of the characters featured with the exception of the sheep, horses and natural phenomenon belong to me. They are the wonderful brain children of Fuyumi Ono and JC Staff.

Principle Cast

Mai Taniyama

(heroine, ward of the Minister of Trade)

Naru

(Prince Oliver, the most arrogant prince seen in recent times)

Houshou Takigawa

(Royal Tutor, general slob and aspiring musician)

Ayako Matsuzaki

(The Countess of Carmine, heiress and part-time mystical priestess)

Madoka Mori

(The Enchantress, only person who is not completely terrified of Naru)

Lin Koujo

(His Excellency, the most esteemed Minister for Trade in Albion, Mai's guardian)

Osamu Yasuhara

(final year student at the University of Albion and resident prankster)

Masako Hara

(Princess of Nihon, Naru's rival to the title of most arrogant person seen in recent times)

Sir John

(knight in training and visitor from the Southern Kingdoms)

*

Secondary Cast

The King & the Queen of Albion

*

Other Cast

Various sheep, horses, citizens and luminaries of Albion and Nihon and all manner of convenient natural phenomenon

And specially featuring

Gene

(Prince Eugene, practicing mage and only other person not completely terrified of Naru)

Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a prince who was as arrogant as he was handsome. The pride and despair of his parents, the prince would spend his day equally distributed between being generally sarcastic to all and sundry and being studious, for in spite of his attention to his own appearance, he was in fact far from being an airhead. Intelligent and good-looking as he was, he soon became the natural choice for many mothers in the land hoping to marry their daughters off. However, his often biting remarks and barely contained bored expression in the presence of these women soon discouraged any but the most foolhardy in their attempts to entice him into marriage and he soon gained a reputation for being an overbearing curmudgeon. His own mother could often be found nursing a headache in the antechamber by the throne room while the King, who'd given his son up as a permanent bachelor could be heard muttering incoherently about incorrigible heirs in his study. It was a pity really, the gossipy tongues wagged and whispered as the prince sauntered through his palace oblivious to the voices that lurked nervously in the corners. 'Shame that he was so arrogant, if he wasn't he'd been the perfect crown prince. At the tender age of sixteen, he'd published a well received treaty on astronomy and half a year later, had begun lecturing at the Kingdom's renowned university and had successfully negotiated trading and diplomatic works with a neighbouring kingdom under the watchful aegis of his tutor.

Then, everything fell apart.

A grand ball was being held in honour of the prince's seventeenth birthday and guests from all over the continent had been invited to the festivities. The prince, who'd been attempting to escape from the fuss that had been kicked up in preparation of the night had wandered off into the nearby woods. There, he was disgusted to find (what he thought) a female guest standing under a tall oak tree. Biting back his annoyance, he strode off in the other direction, only to have the other figure follow and latch on to his arm. Startled, Prince Oliver swiveled round, the beginnings of a temper showing in his stormy blue eyes. "What-" he'd began to say and then stopped short. The woman (if that was what she was) was hideous. Her skin was sallow and dry and sagged under her watery eyes while her hair was graying and disheveled. As his horrified gaze traveled down, he spotted a wart lurking on the under side of her chin. The dress she wore was of a modish cut, but so faded and tattered that he winced at the sight of it. This woman was most definitely not clean and he hastily shook free of her grasp. "Who are you?" he demanded. The woman looked at him, eyes wide and pleading.

"Please, kind sir... you've to help me."

He sighed impatiently. "Go up to the palace. Someone'll take care of you there."

The woman shook her head vehemently. "_You_ have to help me." she rasped again.

Prince Oliver, who never had a good temper anyway, glared at her. "I don't have the time to waste here. My palace is not a charity as it is. Stop bothering me or I'll have my guards throw you out of the grounds, hag." With those words, he started to walk away.

"Do you mean that, arrogant prince?" he heard a quiet voice behind him ask.

"Yes," he growled and started to walk away again, when he found that he could not move.

A cold wind whipped about and in place of where the hag had been standing was an Enchantress instead. Her long hair whipped about in the wind menacingly, and she spoke in a clear voice. "Prince Oliver, you are the most arrogant and bigheaded prince I've met so far. Take back your words or suffer the consequences." On hindsight, the prince would wonder why he'd refuse to apologize, he was as he liked to inform others, not stupid but there and then, with a challenging look, he smirked at her. "An enchantress? I thought they were supposed to be enchantingly beautiful," he said. The Enchantress merely quirked an eyebrow and replied calmly.

"I am the Enchantress Madoka, and really, prince, surely you know looks aren't everything especially when its more about being able to do this-" She waved her hand in a single fluid motion and the prince disappeared in a cloud of thick smoke.

_4 hours or so later..._

The enchantress, Madoka twitched guiltily. "Admit it," Takigawa grumbled. "While Naru ought to have behaved better, _you _lost your temper too!"

"Yes, and _you_- (she prodded his chest) suggested that I teach your young charge a lesson! You said he was driving you crazy!" The Royal Tutor flushed an uncharacteristic shade of crimson. "I meant something like scare him a bit. Not this-" he shook his head. "And definitely not on his birthday." Madoka sighed. "What's done is done. I can't undo the spell."

"And," she added, "he had it coming you know."

Takigawa groaned. "What am I going to tell his parents?"

They were in his private chambers and Takigawa sat down heavily at his writing table. It had been almost three hours since the enchantress had barged in frantically. In her panic, he'd not at first been able to understand what she was saying – something about _walking in the woods_, _minding her own business_, _the wretched prince_ and _a spell gone wrong _until he caught sight of the small green frog she had been clutching in her hand. "Omigod," he had uttered, instantly recognizing the dour look that no transformation could disguise.

"I'm sorry!" Madoka said again, interrupting his thoughts.

They looked at each other. Faint strains of jolly music were drifting cheerily in from the Great Hall, borne by some stray breeze that had found its way into the bowels of the palace. But for the occupants of the room, it sounded more like a death toll. In particular, _his_ death, Takigawa thought gloomily. _What were they going to do?_

_Author's note: And how was that? Any OOCness of the characters is due to my inexperienced hand. Reviews are greatly appreciated!_


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Wow! Thank you for all your very encouraging reviews! I hope you like the second chapter!!

NobleBrokenBeauty: I've come across Eleventh Night before! I really enjoyed it very much and I think I can promise something different.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this chapter. Sigh.

*******

To be honest, Mai had always been slightly terrified of her guardian. Tall, stern and unsmiling, Lin managed to convey an unspoken aura of professionalism and great pride in his role as the Royal Minister for Trade. The aura also subtly implied that he took his appointment very, very seriously and that only extremely foolhardy people would even dare to interrupt him when he was in the middle of a job. And there were many – especially ever since Prince Oliver had begun taking an interest in the economic intricacies of his father's kingdom, his workload seemed to have multiplied exponentially overnight. As a result, he was seldom at home.

It was always "Naru this and Naru that", Mai liked to mutter whenever the older man was hauled away by an urgent call from the palace. She could count on a single hand the times that she had actually sat down to a meal with her guardian in the past month. And even then, Mai, who was loud, cheerful and optimistic, would find those precious times spent with the taciturn man to be slow-going. Her parents had died three years back, leaving her at the mercy of her parents' creditors, who'd eagerly seized whatever they could. It was in fact sheer luck that had put her in Lin's way. Already the Minister then, he'd been on his way to the Merchants' Guild when she was in the act of being thrown out of her home by the debt collectors. Neither Mai nor her merchant parents (when alive) had known Lin Koujou except by sight at the Guild, where he had eventually sent off the creditors and then took the young orphan under his protection by setting her up in his private residence as his ward. While she had felt nothing but gratefulness towards the quiet man, she too had often wondered _why _he'd extended a helping hand, and, with a sense of guilt, if she was not in fact imposing on him.

Lin, who had been oblivious to his ward's thoughts, was perusing an urgent letter that had arrived just before lunch. It had, most unusually, come via Madoka's specially bred messenger pigeons, one of which was now pecking hungrily at his salad. Scanning quickly through the short note, which only said, "Urgent – Naru – Trouble – Keep Private – Come to Takigawa's room asap", Lin made a swift decision. He rose from the table in a fluid motion that Mai could only admire and gestured for the housemaid to clear away the remnants of his uneaten meal. "Excuse me, Mai. I've to leave now – urgent business at the palace."

His ward looked up at him out of round hazel eyes and then dropped her gaze with a sigh. "Alright. I've to go down to the village today anyway."

He nodded curtly, and then suddenly noticing her forlorn expression, said more gently. "I'll ask the groom to prepare a carriage to take you to town."

"And Mai, don't take the shortcut. You always get lost."

When Lin had left, Mai went down to the kitchens and after leaving a few instructions with the housekeeper, went out by the back way, a basket in hand. The wide blue sky was scattered with big white clouds, and the forest just beyond the back of the mansion seemed to shimmer invitingly. Mai knew that a small footpath through the woods led straight to the town, a shortcut that the palace staff often used when they wanted to get groceries quickly or to sneak back in after a drinking session at the pub. The day was clear and bright and she could see for miles around. If she stuck to the path, she'd get to the town and back in three hours, and she wouldn't even have to wait for Lin's groom to get the horses ready. After all, Mai told herself, the last two times she had been stuck in the forest, it had been at night, and more experienced staff had gotten turned around before too. Without further ado, she set off down the path. Lin, for one, would not know.

*** *** ***

Naru glared at them from where he had been abandoned on his tutor's bed. Madoka and Takigawa were arguing with each other again. _Useless_, he thought, and then decided to see if he could try and move his new limbs. He lifted up his right hand, no, now right _forelimb_ and examined it critically. He seemed to be a vivid peridot green, with darker green bands circling his hind and fore legs. The skin looked a little dry. A glance at the shaving mirror on the chest of drawers next to the pillows showed that he had bright copper eyes with a narrow black central slit in each. _Hey. I don't look so bad _he thought. The black slit pupils narrowed further as he concentrated on crawling cautiously to the edge of the bed. Now that he'd figured out how to work his body, he needed to speak to his two subjects. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was…

"Ribbit!"*

Madoka and Takigawa turned instantly from yelling at each other to stare at him.

"Oh dear. He can't speak," Madoka said, a little uselessly. Naru rolled his eyes, a feat that he still seemed capable of. He opened his mouth a little wider to try again, but this time, all that happened was that his long pink tongue lolled out and spread in a little lithe bundle between his webbed feet. As both his tutor and the enchantress fell about laughing hysterically, Naru was left to shore up the remains of his rapidly unravelling dignity as he fought furiously to get it all back into his mouth again.

"Ribbit."** He said again after managing to get his mouth and air sacs to work correctly again and glowered at them pointedly. It was clear to him what had to be done even if it wasn't to the other two. They needed to break the spell for one thing. Madoka had said she couldn't. And Takigawa didn't have an ounce of magic in him. But _Gene_ did. He needed to get to the Academy of Magecraft where his brother was. And even if his brother couldn't, there was surely someone else in the whole of the school who could fix this. But first, he had to inform them of his plan and croaking had so far only provoked more laughter. He eyed the table by the window. There was an inkwell and paper. Naru tensed, aiming for the nearest corner of the table and leapt forward, only to find himself sailing right past the table and out of the second storey instead.

*** *** ***

As his carriage was making its sedate way towards the palace, Lin sneezed abruptly. He gingerly touched his nose, which had become raw from being cleaned so repeatedly. Ever since the carriage had taken a turn at a crossroads and the mansion had vanished from sight, he hadn't been able to stop sneezing. Perhaps he was coming down with something. Leaning out of the window, he could see the flags of the Royal Palace hanging limp on their turrets. And soon after that, the carriage made its way past the city gates, and Lin was treated to a brief view of the bustling market square before passing under the fluted pillars and arches of the University and finally arriving at the palace gates.

At that moment, had Lin chanced to look outside, he'd noticed a small object soar out of the Royal Tutor's bedroom window, but as a sneeze chose that exact same moment to erupt out of him and into the face of a palace guard, he ended up apologizing to the red faced man instead. Hence, when Lin eventually reached Takigawa's chambers, he was not at all prepared for either the sight of the latter running past him at breakneck speed and swearing or that of a tear-streaked enchantress standing by the open window.

Translator's notes:

* Silence!

** If you two hadn't already guessed, arguing has failed to produce anything effective, but if you two had, I won't even have to inform you, though I don't think you can understand me either.

_Kindly R&R please!_


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this chapter

*******

Lin was if nothing, a very capable man in his chosen career, but faced with a crying lady and he found himself feeling helpless. It had been that way with Mai back at the Guild and it was the same now. He bit back the sharp retort that he was about to make about crying over spilt milk and instead held out his arms silently to his childhood friend. Contrary to what the palace gossips believed, Madoka was not the two centuries old crone that she claimed all enchantresses were. They'd grown up in the same village and he had often visited her at the Academy of Magecraft when she was a student there and watched and ultimately supported her through the many chaotic episodes she concocted. "Now, you must promise me not to be too shocked," she mumbled into his coat lapel. Lin, who knew his friend only too well, sucked in a breath to compose himself.

"I turned Naru into a frog by accident."

"A frog," he echoed.

"By accident," she sniffled and then hiccupped. "And he fell out of the window." Lin paled visibly and then moved to examine the garden below. Outside, the late afternoon sun blazed over the garden illuminating every nook and cranny. There was no splattered body to be seen anywhere and he felt his shoulders sag in relief. "I think he managed to get away," he said. "Have you informed His Majesty?"

Then, there was a loud yell and crash. The shout sounded a lot like Takigawa's and they both ran out. Lin hastily stopped a servant boy who was rushing back up the stairs. "What happened?"

"Sir Takigawa fell down the garden steps. The head gardener thinks he's broken his leg. And, pardon me Your Excellency, but I've to go fetch the physician!" the young boy squeaked and ducked past Lin into the palace.

Sure enough, when they arrived in the garden a few minutes later, Takigawa was sitting on the ground beside a few broken flower pots.

"I swear that boy will get me killed one of these days," he snarled on catching sight of Madoka.

The wizened old gardener snorted. "'Think he's broken not just his leg but his head too," he remarked loudly to Lin.

Takigawa, who seemed not to have heard the last comment, pointed at the garden wall. "I saw him near there." Lin nodded once quickly.

"Madoka, would you and Mr er,"

"Walls, Your Excellency," the head gardener supplied.

"Mr Walls please watch the Royal Tutor?"

At that moment, someone began pushing through the gathering crowd of onlookers. "Out of the way. Healer coming through!" The crowd dutifully parted to let a tall lady dressed in an elegant pale yellow and lavender gown through. Her long red hair had been swept up under a magnificent straw hat with a dyed ostrich feather and ribbons trailing down. Takigawa gaped at her. "You aren't the Royal Physician!" he said accusingly as Madoka beamed at her in relief. "Aya-chan!"

"Save the hellos for later," she replied brusquely and began rolling her sleeves up. "I've to examine the patient first."

"Where is the Royal Physician? I am not concussed. Tell her I'm not concussed," he beseeched Walls, who was still holding him up. The old man shrugged. "Best listen to the doctor," he replied firmly. Aya-chan or Lady Ayako, as she preferred to be known as, whacked his head smartly.

"The Royal Physician is busy delivering Lady Felicia's baby. And shut up. I know you're not concussed. Now, stop waving about so I can splint your leg."

"I do not want to be treated by a shrew!" Takigawa hissed under his breath as Ayako began issuing orders to have him carried back to his room. Unfortunately, Madoka seemed to have heard, and she wagged a finger at him irritatingly.

"Now, now, behave yourself Takigawa-san. You are injured. Ayako is a certified healer and more than capable of taking care of you."

The motley group had arrived at Takigawa's bedroom door. It was still ajar as no one had, in the commotion earlier, thought to lock it and the Countess swept in immediately. She scrunched up her nose at the sight of his bedchamber.

"You're very untidy for a Royal Tutor," she said.

"Hey, I keep my sitting room and study neat enough! It's an organized mess." He protested.

"Regardless what kind of mess it is, I'll need space to work," she replied crisply and promptly swept aside the contents of his table in order to place a basin and a towel on it. Takigawa grimaced as several items clattered to the floor.

"Don't be such a baby," Ayako said, misinterpreting his expression as annoyance for her when she dabbed at his face with a wet cloth.

"You've got a pretty bad bruise on the side of your head."

"Yeah, it hurts like mad."

She shook her head. "Madoka told me what happened. Where do you think the prince went?"

"I just hope he hasn't gotten himself eaten or anything. Lin is looking into it right now. And I hope Madoka manages to convince everyone that Naru has been removed from the palace because he's caught a highly contagious disease." Takigawa shuddered. "Her spells tend to not have the correct effect."

But, the Royal Tutor's fears were unfounded, and in spite of the Enchantress's earlier haywire spell casting, the spell of delusion that she cast over the inhabitants seemed to have worked quite well in spite of the Queen's surprisingly strong maternal instinct.

"What do you mean the castle has to be evacuated now?" she had demanded. "I want to see my poor son first."

The Enchantress bowed her head regretfully. "I'm afraid that is not possible, Your Majesty. Prince Oliver is not fit to be seen by anyone. The disease causes him to break out in infectious green pustules, and you know how concerned he is of his appearance. It would not do to aggravate his fever." And, in the end, Albion's royalty had walked away from Madoka believing that their son had come down with a rare and highly contagious case of _froggaitis_ that prevented him from attending his own birthday ball. It was a most regrettable business and just as well that their other son, Gene had wrote in to say that he would not be attending at all.

That night, the palace was ablaze with torches as disgruntled guests were ushered back into their various modes of transportation. The Chancellor had just heaved a sigh of relief when the last carriage had finally rolled away when one of the guards came running up. His eyes widened at what the other man had to say. "Oh, surely not," he groaned at the sight of the veiled palanquin parked beneath the sweeping willows. "They aren't expected until next week." He sagged against the temporary booth they'd set up in the front gates. "Get the Minister of Trade here lad."

* * *

In the first few moments when Naru's body had connected with the ground, he had lain there unable to move, or even to think clearly. Everything looked strange, as if out of focus and overly bright and big. Where am I? Who am I? He thought dazedly. A tiny voice reminded him that he was the prince, but when he looked down, he saw webbed feet. No, I'm a frog. But, that didn't seem to be right either… He picked himself up and breathed a sigh of relief when he found nothing to be broken. A few experimental hops landed him near a high wall. The sharp uneven sides swam queasily before him. Then, he noticed a crack of soothing dark at the bottom of the wall and he quickly crawled through it into mercifully soft moss.

As the prince, (now a frog) sat there mulling his next move, he heard a loud yell and peeked out from the crack. It looked as though someone had just fallen down the three shallow steps that led from the open courtyard into the garden. Naru sniffed in disdain. How could anyone be so clumsy? Then, he remembered that he'd just fallen out of a window. Whose window, he wasn't sure, but at least he was now free from the evil clutches of… He tetchily shoved that unpleasant memory aside. If Gene knew, he'd never hear the end of it. Gene! That's right. Gene could fix this. Whoever this Gene was he wondered for a brief minute. Not that it mattered, so long as he remembered that someone could help him. He hopped out into the sun. The long shadows were pointing ahead of him. It was almost sundown. Good. He was at least facing the right direction in which the Academy was. It was a week's journey there on horseback and through the woods. _Well_, he told himself. _Better get started then_.

* * *

_**Author's notes**_: Argh! Naru _still _hasn't met Mai yet. But it was fun to write about the other characters too and now the story seems to progressing depressingly slow. Let me know what you, my dear reader think?

_Reviews are once again, greatly appreciated!_


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.

*******

Exhausted and lost several hours later, the prince was regretting ever leaving the palace. To his credit, Naru hadn't been thinking very coherently then and while he wasn't very sure exactly when he managed to get his scrambled thoughts together, he was certain it had been in the field with all those damp looking sheep. It had begun raining not long after he'd left the palace behind and he'd squelched through endless monotonous fields of mown grass before arriving at one with all the sheep. He knew because he'd sworn to fire Takigawa when one of the sheep, a particularly woolly and mad-eyed member of the flock had tried to eat him and everything that had transpired in the pervious eight hours came rushing back. He sighed. Becoming a frog was slowly but surely impacting his once astute mind negatively.

Or maybe it had been that fall.

He hopped to the end of the field and found himself facing a road and a stretch of forest. Then, as he hopped onto the road, a horse came out of nowhere and sent him flying right into the helmeted face of the rider. The rider gave a startled cry but managed to save the frog from being trampled by his spooked mare. "Whoa! I say, Chrissie! Whoa!" The horse calmed down on hearing her master's voice and stopped prancing about and allowed him to place the frog on a stretch of grass on the other side. "Here you go little friend. Be more careful of crossing roads eh," he said before clambering back onto Chrissie. Naru blinked. A Canberrean accent? What was a knight from the Southern Kingdoms doing in Albion, he mused as he made his way towards the woodlands.

* * *

As in all stories such as these, Mai had indeed gotten lost just as her guardian had warned. She had actually completed all her errands within half an hour of reaching the town, but then, her two friends visiting from the Merchant Guild _had_ to rope her into having tea and cake at the bakery. Then, a brawl _would_ have to happen just as they were about to leave, and Mai found herself unexpectedly cheering the young man who'd broken up the fight single-handedly. He'd spoken with a funny accent but Mai hadn't stopped to listen properly as she rushed out into the setting sun. And now, not unnaturally, she was lost. _Again_. To make matters worse, it also looked as though it would be raining soon and all the stars were hidden behind thick clouds. As Mai groped her way around another oak tree, she found herself next to the well for the third time.

"That's it. I give up!"

There had to be something vaguely ominous about the way she always found herself at the forest well whenever she got lost. This time, she wasn't going to fight whatever magical creature it was that was causing all the forest paths to converge to this one spot. She heard it snigger and then something rustled in the bushes. Shaking her head a little at her misfortune, she hunkered down at the well. If the creature wanted her to spend the night next to a dirty old well, then she was going to show whatever it was that she could sit it out.

It was rather dark, and a few drops of rain splashed down on her bare arms. Mai hastily drew her short cloak tighter around her. Then, she felt something wet and cold plop down next to her and she jumped up in fright.

"_Careful__!_" A rather hoarse voice admonished coldly. Mai looked around, but all she could see was the dim outline of the trees around her.

"H-hello?" she whispered nervously. She could sense the speaker huff impatiently. "Are – do you happen to be human?"

There was no reply to that, and Mai began to feel her way round to where she had left the basket on the ground. Then, the voice spoke again, startling her. "I don't think so," it admitted reluctantly.

"Oh?" Mai, who had been busy crawling around the base of the well, frowned. "I can't find it!" she said after searching for her missing basket in vain.

"Your basket is on top of the well, where you left it when you first sat down" the voice continued in a faintly bored tone. Mai jumped up immediately in relief. "Really? Where?" But in her hurry, her flailing arm collided with the edge of the basket and sent its contents flying into the well. Naru watched as several apples and two wrapped oilskin packages went splashing into the depths below. A plan was beginning to form in his head.

"I could get them for you," he said when the strange girl had finally exhausted exclaiming and swearing, "On the condition that you provide me with room and board."

"But you said you weren't human."

"I said I didn't _think_ I was"

"That's the same thing," Mai scoffed.

Just then, it stopped raining, and a convenient patch of moonlight illuminated the well. Mai, who had tried and failed so far to identify the mystery being which had been speaking to her, stared.

"You're – you're a talking frog!" she sputtered. Naru gave her a look. "As I was saying, if I successfully retrieve your items, you would have to let me eat from your plate and sleep on your bed. Two conditions for two things seem fair."

Mai shuddered. "No offence, but I think I'll get them myself." To Naru's disbelief, the girl snatched up a long stick began poking into the well. Usually, it was he, Prince Oliver of Albion who did the rejecting. Nobody, and definitely no girl, had rejected him before, and for a moment, he was at a lost as what to do. "I highly doubt your intelligence. I'm as you pointed out, a frog. I can swim in a well. I can rescue your shopping without any danger at all." The last part was in reference to how Mai had nearly fallen into the well herself. Mai pouted. It was true the frog could do a better job, though she wasn't sure if she wanted to be eating at the table with a frog. Then, she was concerned that she might have hurt its feelings. Magical creatures were always so sensitive. "Well, you're rather nice," she began. The frog smirked. "Of course. I'm glad to say that you've good taste in spite of that horrid dress you've on." Then, while she was still flabbergasted, he added, "You'll owe me one." Without waiting for her to react, he hopped right into the well after the packages. "Hey! Wait! This isn't fair!" she shouted after him.

The packages were heavier than he had initially thought, and Naru struggled with trying to get a grip on them for a while. If there was any advantage at all to being a frog as opposed to being a human, it was that he could see pretty well in the dark. While the apples were all floating, the other two had sunk into the weeds at the bottom and he had to tug at them for a while before they would become lose. Then he discovered how heavy they were, and he barely made it to the surface before Mai managed to hook them from him with the stick.

As Naru then discovered, hopping out of a well was not as easy as it looked, and by the time he did, Mai had unwrapped the two packages anxiously. While the oilskin wrappings had prevented much of the dirt and water from soaking the contents, both were now a little damp around the edges. One of them was a slim, pretty volume titled _Townsend's Guide to Cultures in the East_. As she checked them anxiously, Naru was amused to see that the other one was the very astronomy treatise he'd written, titled fittingly for something written by royalty, _Kings in the Sky_. He cleared his throat. "You."

Mai gritted her teeth. "I've a name you know."

Naru ignored her protest. "You owe me." he repeated. She sighed. "Yes, thank you, er,"

"Shibuya," he said with a quick glance at the cover of his book. "And how do you intend to do so?"

"My name's Mai," Mai volunteered.

_Mai_. For a minute, Naru wondered where he'd heard that name, and hoped that she wasn't from one of those blind dates that his mother had been recently setting him up for. There were, as he recalled, still several unopened invitations in his drawer waiting to be rejected. "Well?" he asked.

There didn't seem anyway out of this and Mai nodded unwillingly "Alright, I promise." Then, a brainwave hit her and an evil grin flashed across her face. "But only if you beat me to the mansion!"

Why, that girl! The prince hopped as quickly as he could after the girl, and although she was wearing long heavy skirts that weighed her down, he was after all, a frog, and he watched in frustration as her figure vanished down the path. But, fate was not on the side of Mai Taniyama, who, in her excitement at having outwitted the odd frog, ran down the wrong path just as dawn broke. Then, just as Naru was about to give up, he spotted something through the undergrowth. Mai had mentioned a mansion, and he could see a little of what appeared to be a brick wall in the distance. He looked back at Mai as she rushed round a tree in the opposite direction and smirked to himself. With any luck, he'll reach the mansion just in time for breakfast on the mansion lawn.

* * *

_**Author's notes**_: The long awaited Mai - Naru interaction. Finally! XD And the Lin residence gains a new mysterious guest in the next chapter. Anyone cares to guess who?

_Reviews are love!_


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.

* * *

INTERLUDE I

_On the desk of Prince Eugene, aka Gene, practicing mage and only other person not completely terrified of Naru_

Dear Sir,

Thank you for taking time in consideration of our Court's request. It is rather abrupt, but the chief diviner of Canberra Court has, in his latest divination, suggests that our meeting date should be no later than the autumn equinox. I would be arriving in Albion before the end of summer, and would be staying at the Hunter's Inn in Grimmwood. Please direct all mail there.

Your servant,

John Brown (Sir)

Knight of the Order of Canberra

South Kings Confederate

*** ***

_12th April, 1756_

_My dear Gene,_

_As you may have heard, your brother has come down with a most unfortunate disease. Thankfully, Madoka was at court and managed to suppress the contagion before it spread. It is a most unfortunate time for us – your brother, and Houshou, who broke his leg going down the garden steps. I know you two boys have your own way of communicating, but in case you have not heard from Noll, he and his tutor are now currently residing in the summer house of the Countess of Carmine, who is also supervising their recovery. You would no doubt recall her? She once healed your leg two summers ago when you fell into that lake after that rouge sorceress pushed you in. _

_Do try and make time to go visit your brother and the Countess once Madoka says that there is no more danger of catching it. It really is an odd disease. Froggitis or Froggattis I believe. Have you come across it? It might be magical in origin._

_With loving regard_

_Mother_

_P.S. And yes, I will continue to stress that you take the utmost precautions to ensure your own safety even after these two years. While Noll and that school of yours do their best, they can't do anything if you keep accepting each and every divination request without checking first._

*** ***

13th April, 1756

Dear brother,

I fear that this may come too late, but then, I wasn't expecting anything but a nice party in celebration of our eighteenth birthday. I had a most unpleasant dream while taking a nap yesterday. In my dream, or maybe nightmare would have been a better word, I dreamt that I had shrunk to a little size, or perhaps that everything around me had grown instead. Everything also seemed to be an odd shade of bright and dark greens and I woke with a burning desire to eat flies. This is strange, even as prophetic dreams go, and I am not sure what it means. But, in the mean time, I suggest that you try to avoid eating any weird vegetables Cook finds…

In haste,

Gene

* * *

*******

"Yes! I'm back," Mai crowed triumphantly as she burst into the mansion grounds via the vegetable garden. As she walked round the kitchens towards the dining hall, she heard a loud commotion coming from the rose garden. "Catch that cat already!" she heard somebody yell.

Naru didn't even bat an eyelid at the scene before him. The mansion servants were all running about the garden chasing the furious tomcat, which was evading them with practiced ease. The one time the chef managed to graze the cat's back, he drew back with a cry. "Argh! That beast scratched me!" Then, just as the cat launched itself right at the windowsill where the smug little frog was sitting, a windowpane swung out abruptly, slamming shut right in its face and it slumped down onto the ground woozily.

The person who had closed the window walked over. "Got you, Beast," he said and picked the stunned cat up easily. "Now, you need to learn to relax. Just because a talking frog got into your roses doesn't mean it's the end of the world. Now, promise to be a good cat." Mai walked over. "Yasuhara-san! What are you doing here?" The university student paused from twirling the now even dizzier cat to grin at the younger girl. "What does it look like? I was helping to look for a missing person, when Beast interrupted our search with his antics."

"Eh? Who?" Mai looked about. Thanks to Leo, or "Beast" as he was generally known by, it appeared that the entire mansion staff had assembled on the lawn. "No one seems to be missing…"

The head cook rolled his eyes. "My lady, you had us all very worried. I had a message sent down to Yasuhara-kun here to help look for you."

Mai blanched. "Did anyone tell Lin-san?" Yasuhara's face turned serious. "I did. I believe he is now on his way back, and very, very angry. He replied via Madoka's emergency pigeons that he would ground you in the stables with the horses."

When the girl's face turned even paler, Yasuhara continued with an air of nearing doomsday, "That is, of course, if you agree that I can join you and your new friend here for breakfast." He broke into a grin. Mai's horrified expression turned to one of relief and she grinned too. That Yasuhara. It was just as well that she was beginning to tell when he was joking, and when he wasn't. "If you wanted something eat, all you had to do was ask," she replied as they walked into the dining room. "And speaking of breakfast, you said something about a guest? I don't have any…" her words trailed off when she spotted the frog on the table, her pink floral gilt edged teacup propped firmly between two webbed feet.

"Mai."

It was unmistakable, that voice. It'd been the only thing she'll heard all of the previous night.

"Ngh."

"Pour more tea," the frog continued, once again as if Mai had not said anything at all. "And while you're at it, I suggest you do something about that tortoiseshell cat of yours."

"How did you get here?" she demanded. The frog unmistakably smirked. "A shortcut." Then, as a bemused housemaid was pouring the frog's tea, a furious scrabbling could be heard from the lawn, where Beast had woken up to find himself confined in a small cage. Naru looked out at it with a smug look.

"And, after breakfast, you will take me up to your room."

Mai scowled. The nerve of that frog! The way it was behaving, anyone would assume that he owned this house! "Now, Mai-chan. Shibuya-san here has told me that you promised him you would allow him to eat from your plate and sleep on your bed if he arrived here before you did."

"But," Mai protested.

Yasuhara merely shrugged. "A lady must always keep her word."

The brown-haired girl twitched guiltily. Her parents, being of the merchant class, had always held promises to be of the utmost importance. She grudgingly held out a plate of biscuits to the frog. "Here, Naru," she muttered. Naru's copper coloured eyes narrowed. "What did you call me?"

Mai immediately blushed. "Eh heh. It's just that it seems to fit you so well. You know, Naru, short for narcissistic." Yasuhara chuckled. When the frog remained quiet, Mai took that as a signal to shift subjects. "Ne, Yasuhara, why don't you have class at the university today?" Naru pricked up at this. The young man shrugged again. "Seems one of the part-time lecturers from the Astronomy department caught some highly contagious disease. The faculties all decided to close the university for a week as a precaution. I only got the news yesterday evening." Mai's eyes were serious. "This does sound bad. Do promise to come up often."

_So, the hand of Madoka strikes again_ Naru thought drily. _There's no time to waste. I've to write to Gene soon. _And speaking of idiot brothers, was he _never _getting away from that plague of a nickname? Out loud, he said, (or rather, commanded), "Mai. Fetch me some ink and paper." The girl sighed in a long-suffering way. "Hai, hai, your high and mightiness," she groused before picking up a clean plate. "Hop onto this. I'll carry you up to my room. My writing table's there."

Naru stepped onto the plate with as much dignity as he could muster, though deep down, he was feeling slightly hurt. _Hurt? _He quickly brushed away that thought. _What was there to be hurt about?_

* * *

_**Author's notes**_: FallenRaindrops: Nope! Though you rightly guessed that Yasuhara was going to make his presence felt! Heh heh. I've already planted clues in the previous chapters, if anyone wants to go back and look for them...

Regarding Updating: I'll be posting updates on my profile from now on in an effort to remain organized.

_Reviews are love!_


	6. Chapter 6

And I'm loved! Thank you for all your reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

* * *

Naru had been expecting Mai's room to be decked out in lurid shades of girly colours and he braced himself to be blinded by a senseless pink haze when they reached her door. When Mai finally got the door to open (it had a habit of being stuck), it was hardly that. True, the walls were papered in soft pink and yellow rosettes and the edges of the white writing table was carved with so much flower and fruit it looked edible, but at least it wasn't uncomfortable to look at. The translucent bed hangings had been tied back neatly with plain gold ribbons. All in all, it was a room with taste and little fuss.

Mai set the little frog on the table. "Were you serious about sleeping on my bed?" she asked it anxiously. Naru sniffed. "Do you expect _me _to sleep on the floor?" he said and went to examine the ink pot and pen on the table instead. The girl blushed slightly. "Well, I could clear out a drawer for you. And you'll need water. I can put a bowl out." The frog shrugged its little green shoulders elegantly. "If it suits the lady of the house," he replied. Mai's face flushed again. "Oh, but I'm not, really." She sat down on the chair and propped her chin on her elbows. "This is my guardian's house." She looked at him thoughtfully. Naru found himself feeling rather uncomfortable at being examined at such a close distance. He could see himself reflected in her hazel coloured eyes for goodness sake. "I can see that you have freckles," he said in a tone that implied that he, Naru had flawless skin. "And you," the girl retorted, "have speckles and stripes. I don't see what there is to compare about. And anyway, a frog wouldn't know anything about human beauty."

"What makes you think I'm not secretly an enchanted human?" Naru asked, nettled.

"Are you?" the girl asked.

"Get me some paper."

The girl huffed in annoyance before plunking a piece of paper in front of her unwelcome guest. "You could say thank you, you know," she observed as Naru began working out how best to hold a pen with webbed feet. As he began writing in an amazingly neat script, Mai found to her annoyance that she was being grandly ignored once again. Grumbling unhappily to herself, she decided to have the long delayed bath that she ought to have had the day before. "I'm going to have my bath," she said as two maids entered, bearing with them a large wooden tub. And, before Naru realised what was happening, he found himself shoved unceremoniously into a cluttered drawer filled with feminine knick knacks, including a very tacky gilt toad brooch. As he fought to untangle himself from a dozen chains, bits of lace and skeins of coloured ribbons, he heard one of the maids speaking. "Mai-chan. His Excellency has just arrived with a guest and requests that you meet her now."

_His Excellency_? The last thing Naru had expected was that he should have hopped right into one of his ministers' private country house.

* * *

When Mai entered the sitting room, with its white and old gold upholstery, she found a visibly harassed Lin standing by the fireplace with a slender young girl that looked to be about her age. "Ah," said Lin in a relieved sort of way and failed to notice that his ward still had some stray leaves decorating her rumpled clothes. "May I introduce you to Her Highness, Princess Masako of Nihon. She would be staying with us for a week." The princess bowed briefly. "Pleased to meet you," she murmured, with a surreptitious glance at Mai's crumpled blue gown. The brown-haired girl blushed. "I'm pleased to meet you too," she said and curtseyed. Lin seemed satisfied by this apparent politeness from both parties. "Masako-hime with be staying in the Blue Room. While the housekeeper is getting it ready, would you please entertain Her Highness? I am wanted urgently at the palace," he said. "Of course I will," Mai said cheerily. Lin nodded. "Hime-sama, it is unlikely that I will be able to find the time to discuss the trade agreements until the day after tomorrow. I am most apologetic for the delay, but as you have realised, this is a most unfortunate time for us. Mai and I will do our best to see that your stay here is a hospital one." The girl inclined her head gracefully. "Of course. I will wait as long as it needs until the Prince of your country is well again before we proceed with the talks."

As Albion's Trade Minister left the room, he found himself colliding with someone coming round the corner. "Oh dear! Pardon me, Your Excellency!" the younger man smiled politely. Lin groaned inwardly when he recalled that the university was closed for a week too. He waved aside the student's apology vaguely. "Are you visiting Mai?" he asked instead. To his distress, Yasuhara shook his head. "Oh no, she just offered to let me stay here instead of the inn at Grimmwood," he replied with what Lin felt to be far too much enthusiasm. "I heard that the Princess of Nihon is staying here too, while the palace is under curfew due to His Highness's illness."

"Yes, indeed," Lin said unenthusiastically and then sneezed with a gloomy sense of foreboding. "Most kind of you to open up your home," the student rambled on cheerfully. "I hope the matter with the prince blows over quickly."

"Indeed, so do I," the minister said with feeling before departing for the palace once again.

* * *

The Princess of Nihon's stay at the minister's country home was not a success, even when judged by Yasuhara's overly optimistic estimations. "Oh, she can't stay mad at a fellow guest at _The Last Homely House_ forever, you know," he said comfortably as he stroked Beast, who was currently fast asleep on his lap. Mai didn't agree. For one thing, the princess only had to stay mad for a week before she moved to the guest room at the palace and/or Yasuhara went back to his university quarters. "What if she refuses to conduct the trade talks?" Mai asked. Yasuhara laughed. "Of course she would. Maybe, she'll even agree to Albion's conditions quickly because she wants to go back home quickly."

"You're one to talk. It's your fault in the first place," Mai grumbled. Earlier that day, when Yasuhara had said that he and Beast would be planning the in-dinner entertainment, she hadn't thought too much about it. Preparations of the Blue Room had been delayed because Princess Masako had not liked some of the… more permanent fixtures in it; like the position of the bed and she had been distracted by that.

"Do all Albionnese sleep with their bed facing the door? Miss Taniyama, please have your housekeeper arrange it so that it faces south." She eyed the ceiling in polite disdain. "And are all your ceilings so low?"

"Well," Mai began, but the princess interrupted her. "I had expected the Ministers of your country to be better housed."

* * *

When Mai had finally escaped from Masako, she found herself instead faced with a terrified maid, who said that one of the drawers in her desk was shaking madly. Naru! When she managed to wrench open the door, she found herself facing a furious little frog. "What are you doing?" she asked it in annoyance. "I'm getting dry and my skin's flaking," the frog snapped. "In a few more hours, I would have died. Is this how you treat a guest?" With a sigh, she took a ladle to the now cooled bathwater and scooped some of it into a bucket. "Here," she said as the frog leapt into it with a small splash.

"Now, no peeking," she warned. "I'm going to have my bath."

The rest of the day whirled by. Mai, finally clean and dressed in a fresh pale pink gown found herself helping the aging housekeeper and two footmen to swing round the heavy bed in Masako's room as well as any other specifications that she had. By the time they were done, Mai realised that it was almost time for dinner and that she had not vetted Yasuhara's "in-dinner entertainment" as he had called it. But, when she rushed into the dining room, no one was there yet, even though the table had been set. Then, she saw something crawling near her plate and discovered that Naru had in fact been waiting there already.

"Mai, tea," he said on catching sight of her.

"It's dinner already. Shall I get you wine instead?" she asked distractedly. The frog gave her that look that she was starting to dread. "If I wanted wine, I would have requested for it instead of tea," he said sarcastically.

"What's this? I did not realise that Albionnese kept frogs as pets."

Masako had entered the dining room as well. Now that she was not wearing the elaborate headdress that she had been earlier in the day, Mai was surprised to see that Masako was in fact shorter and less imposing than she had first appeared to be. "They don't," both Naru and Mai said together and then looked at each other, slightly startled. "The evidence indicates otherwise," Masako commented with a raised eyebrow as she sat elegantly opposite Naru. "Still, I'm rather curious. Are there many magical frogs in Albion?"

"No, and from my knowledge, I'm the only one."

Mai watched the exchange curiously. "You aren't scared of frogs?" she asked the other girl with some surprise. The princess raised a long kimono sleeve to her face. "Of course not," she said snootily.

As the dinner commenced, Mai couldn't help but wonder where Yasuhara had gone. It wasn't like him to miss out on free food, and she was just about to get up to check when a loud melodious clang sounded from the lawn and Yasuhara burst abruptly into the dining room through the French windows, with Beast in tow. Masako shrieked faintly. They had been serving soup and the poor servant who had been ladling the princess's portion was so traumatized that he spilled the entire bowl onto her.

"My kimono!" she hissed, having collected her wits. "My lady Masako," Yasuhara was now speaking. "Allow me to welcome you to Albion! Tonight, two residents at _The Last Homely House _will present to you a musical piece composed specially for the occasion of your visit." As Masako watched with frigid politeness, Yasuhara placed Beast (with a very ludicrous pink bow tied round his neck) on a chair next to him. "The lyrics might be familiar to you, Ohime-sama," he smiled, glasses gleaming in the candle-light and struck a pose with his guitar.

"Brrrrrreeeaaaaakiiiinng theeeeeeeee siiileeennnnncccce,"

_ Strum._ With a nudge from Yasuhara, Beast also joined into the fray with his caterwauls.

"Offff an annnnnciieeeennnt poooond,"

_ Strum._

"Aaaaa froooogg juuuummmppeed intoooo the waaaater"

Yasuhara looked soulfully around the room before strumming alarmingly again.

_ Extra loud strum. _Mai twitched.

"A deeeeeeppp resonaaance!" _Strum._

There was a long silence. Masako sat as though frozen to her gilt-edged chair. "Mastuo Basho. Late seventeenth century poet from Nihon." Everyone rounded on Naru who was the one who had spoken. "You are acquainted with the work of one of our _haiku _masters?" Masako asked, surprised and a little pleased. The little frog took a polite sip from the pink floral tea cup.

"May I ask what your area of study is in at the university?" he asked Yasuhara as he sat down at the table with his usual cheer. "So glad that you asked, Shibuya-san. I'm specialising in eastern languages." As Mai absorbed this new piece of information bleakly, Masako eyed the student stonily. "You must excuse me, but my kimono sleeve is soaked," she said.

"But, won't you stay for dinner?" Mai asked desperately.

The princess stared at her in disbelief as Yasuhara produced a blank canvas from seemingly nowhere and announced, "Next item! A watercolour painting in the style of Suzuki Harunobu! Wait," he called as Masako practically ran out of the room, near impossible as it was to do so in her kimono. "But you are to be the subject of my painting!"

* * *

"Oh stop teasing her already," Mai said with a sigh as she helped herself to the half eaten dessert. Yasuhara only laughed and didn't reply. The princess had locked herself into her room, and shortly after Mai had knocked on the door incessantly, the door had been opened by one of the black clad personal servants who shooed her away rudely after requesting that all meals were to be sent up from now on.

"So, Shibuya? I see that you are proficient in eastern languages as well?" Yasuhara said as he deposited Beast in a wicker basket by the veranda.

"Some Japanese. I'm better speaking than writing it."

"Have some more tea," he offered and then shook the tea pot when nothing but a few drops trickled out. He held out the teapot to Mai with a smile.

"Mai?"

The girl sagged. Since when had she become her two new guests' maid?

"I'll go boil some more."

* * *

_**Author's notes**_: Where there is Yasuhara, there can only be chaos! XD

Matsuo Basho and Suzuki Harunobu are real people, and you can check out more about them from Wiki. The haiku which Yasuhara was happily mauling is one of Basho's more famous works and has been translated variously. The version I borrowed is translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

* * *

Living with both Masako and Yasuhara in the same house, no matter with how many rooms between them, remained an antagonistic experience. Mai had considered writing a letter to her guardian, but she could imagine the curt reply she would get. Lin had looked rather flustered, as she recalled from his visit yesterday and she hardly wanted to bother him with trivial domestic problems. To make matters worse, Yasuhara had taken to experimenting with a badly tuned _biwa_ which he'd found in Lin's study. As note after screechy note sailed into and polluted the entire household, Mai found herself gathering her cloak and some books, prepared to find somewhere to wait out the siege on her ears ended, or until Yasuhara went to bed. As she was about to leave, she remembered the frog. He was leaning against the edge of the enamel basin that they finally found for him to swim around in and observing her patiently. Mai picked up the plate. "Do you want to come along? I'm going up to the observatory."

Naru did not want it to look like he was begging, but the noise was getting unbearable, so he hopped on quietly, hoping that Mai would take his silence to be the gratitude he was actually feeling at being able to go somewhere quiet.

And quiet it was.

The wind whistled around the open air terrace and made Mai's cloak flap violently, but at least it didn't sound like nails on a chalkboard. It was also cold, but the sharp, cool night air was a refreshing change to the floral scents of Mai's room. It helped him think clearer, Naru felt as she set him on the ledge.

Mai on the other hand, had scurried to the side and lit the lantern so that a small comforting globe of light washed over the smooth stone floor. She'd brought with her the flowery copy of _Townsend's Guide to Eastern Cultures_ and had started to read, as Naru noted wryly, on the topic of etiquette in Nihon.

"Do you know a lot about Nihon?" she asked suddenly.

"What do you want to know?"

Mai shrugged. "Mostly if you think Yasuhara's performance would be ending soon. It says in the book that some pieces can be very long."

"I doubt Yasuhara knows what he is playing," Naru replied. He shivered. It really was a cold night. To his surprise, Mai held her hand out to him. "Sorry about everything up till now."

"I don't know what you are apologizing for," Naru stated stiffly. The girl blushed. "I don't think I've treated you nicely as a guest, and well," she smiled a little, "you've been the best behaved so far."

"I'm glad you noticed. Seeing as you are quite unobservant usually, I'll say it is an improvement." The frog crawled cautiously onto her palm as if he was afraid that she'll drop him. Mai tried not to shiver too much. It was cold, and damp like she'd imagine frogs to be, but… not unpleasant, she reflected with some surprise at herself. "Are you scared of frogs?" he asked when she set him down carefully next to where she was sitting with her legs tucked beneath her chin. Mai laughed in embarrassment. "I've a phobia of them since I was little. How'd you guess?"

_It's obvious how I guessed_, Naru thought, _especially since you've refused to touch me since you found me in the woods_. Out loud, all he said instead was "My superior intellect, of course."

"Huh," the girl snorted.

They shared a companionable silence, which Mai utilized to admire the starlit sky. "It's beautiful isn't it," she commented.

Naru smirked. _Ah. But how could he not_?

"The things that you find so aesthetically pleasing are made of different masses of gas that coalesce together in space."

"Well, I like the stories that people tell about the stars too," she said comfortably. "Studying something scientifically takes the mystery away."

"It also teaches you to understand that you don't need mystery for it to be beautiful," Naru said. They both looked up again. A meteor streaked across the dark sky. "Oh! Make a wish!" Mai said and squeezed her eyes shut. Naru, not one to believe in such things, turned aside contemptuously. To his annoyance, Mai poked him from behind.

"Stop that," he said, as a startled croak forced its way out of his mouth and Mai giggled.

"Ne, Naru. Just make one! You never know what might be listening!"

"Humph."

But, as he looked on at the smiling girl leaning against the marble ledge and humming easily to herself, he found himself wishing that he could tell her that she was beautiful.

* * *

INTERLUDE II

The masters of the Academy of Magecraft read the parchment again. "Are you certain?" he asked the white haired Master Diviner. "There is no doubt. Malfina is back and the runes prophesize disaster for the crown of Albion. We must recall Master Eugene to the school at once for his own safety." The old man sighed. "I will let Madoka know. I believe he is headed that way to visit his sick brother."

* * *

"Ow! Why are you always hitting me?" the Royal Tutor protested hoarsely and earned himself another whack from his fiery caregiver.

"What did you just hide under your pillow?" Ayako demanded.

"I didn't hide anything," he said guiltily.

The countess glared at him suspiciously. "You've been getting ink stains all over your bed sheets these couple of days."

"I'm _bored_. I was correcting Prince Oliver's Latin homework."

"Liar."

"I'm _that _bored."

With a practiced hand, Ayako heaved the prone tutor out of the way and whipped out several sheets of paper triumphantly. "Hey, watch that, the ink's not dry yet," Takigawa said as he tried and failed to snatch them back. Her eyebrows raised.

"Music scores?" she inquired. Takigawa sulked.

"I have the right to remain silent until you return them to me," he groused.

"Who has the right to what?" a bright feminine voice asked from the doorway.

"Madoka! Any news...?" The enchantress shook her head.

"Lin is still looking into it."

"Argh! That stupid prince! Why didn't he just stay in one place? If we find him, I'm going to kill him," she grumbled.

Takigawa looked anxious. "It's been what… four days since he disappeared. I hope he isn't dead. But the odds of surviving this long as a frog…" The three of them lapsed back into gloomy silence.

"There might be more than one way of looking for the prince," Madoka said eventually. Ayako glared at her.

"I'm not talking to that old tree. He gives me the creeps." Takigawa looked at them blankly. _Talk to a tree? Had he heard wrongly?_

"We don't have to ask Old Black yet. Why don't you speak to the ones that you know?" Madoka asked.

"What are you talking about?" Takigawa asked and then wished he hadn't when he saw the gleeful looks the two women were giving each other.

"Why, Aya-chan can show you," the enchantress smiled.

*******

They were in the grove of willow trees that made up part of the extensive grounds of Lady Ayako's ancestral home. Takigawa had been propped up in a wicker chair which some of the servants had brought out for him to rest on. The trees were clearly very old, and draped in moss and fern, which gave them a slightly demented appearance.

"Are you sure this is a good idea…" he started to object when Madoka shushed him.

"Look!" A morose looking lady had floated out of the tree nearest Ayako and Takigawa gaped, slack-jawed. The spirit eyed them with distaste.

"I don't like him," she said in a high, thin voice. "He's _staring _at me."

"It's alright, Wilhelmina. He can't help that he's an idiot," Ayako said soothingly.

Wilhelmina looked doubtful. "What do you wish to ask of me?"

"Where is the current location of the prince of Albion?" The spirit floated thoughtfully and then pointed at the space beyond Takigawa's head.

"Here," she whispered before fading back into the grey bark of her tree.

"What? _Here_?" The three of them whip round at the sudden crunch of boots on the dried leaves.

* * *

_**Author's notes**_: Dun! Dun! Dun! Whose boots are those? And yes, I'm introducing a pretty major OC who will be playing a crucial role in this fic. Sorry I'm so random with updates... I write when I feel like it, you see...


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

* * *

Mai woke up with a stiff neck. The sun seemed too bright and she felt rather cold. As she took in her surroundings blearily, she heard a faint snoring from beside her. She twisted round to find that Beast and Naru were curled up, tucked under the crook of her elbow. She smiled to herself before realising that they were in fact still perched on the observatory terrace.

"Wake up," she said. "It's morning."

Two pair of eyes blinked up at her groggily, as Mai began folding up her cloak (crumpled) and putting the books (which she had barely touched) in order. That done, they were about to leave when one of the footmen came running up. "There you are. I mean, my lady, there seem to be some strange people in the mansion grounds," he said with a nervous tremble.

The strange people, as it turned out, appeared to be two men. One of them had quite clearly broken his leg and was leaning heavily on the other. A crutch and a wrapped bundle that looked suspiciously like it might have been a weapon of some sort, she was quick to note, were currently occupying her (previously) empty umbrella stand. The uninjured man waved at her a little. "Er, hello. Sorry to intrude," he apologised with a shy smile. "Do you mind very much if we sit down?"

* * *

Mai could feel a headache coming on. What with Naru having taken over her writing desk upstairs, Masako still barricaded in the Blue Room, and now, adding to her stress, strange men occupying the front sitting room, she really did _­not _need Yasuhara adding to her stress. Almost as if right on cue, she distinctly heard his voice as he somehow managed to invade the Blue Room. Mai got up hastily and spilled the tea she was pouring for the two strange guests, one of which was clearly foreign and seemed to be wearing armour under his regular clothes.

"Oh, excuse me," she said and plonked the teapot down with a loud rattle. "I've to go check on my… er… other guest," she said and fled the room. Takigawa looked at the girl's retreating back and shrugged.

"So, tell me again, Sir John, how did you get lost in the woods too?"

* * *

The Princess of Nihon eyed the university student in open hostility.

"Your Highness."

Yasuhara swept her an immaculate bow. "It has come to my attention that you are immensely unsatisfied with my behaviour. I have come to apologize."

Masako's glare lessened, though the suspicion in her eyes did not.

"Oh? I had come to think that your pranks were chronic." Then, her gaze fell on Mai who had been hovering near the doorway anxiously. "Ah. It is the lady of the house." She extended her hand in a show of apparent magnanimity. "I suppose I could, seeing as it would be unseemly to be ungracious, especially in the presence of lesser beings."

Mai, who had sighed in relief scowled. "Hey! Who're you calling ungracious, you-

With a lordly wave of his hand, Yasuhara cut off her protest. "It's alright, Mai." He bowed grandly to Masako again, and with another airy wave, signalled a servant forward. "May I present, with the compliments of the chef, this luscious bavarois, made with the finest Albionian strawberries and milk as a token of my apology?"

Masako, ever gracious, smiled. "Certainly, I will, but only if you join in."

Yasuhara's equally broad smile did not even waver. "Perhaps a small slice, but ladies first."

Masako continued to beam benignly. "As a show of your sincerity, _you _should take the first."

Mai who had been watching the exchange looked at Yasuhara carefully. There was a bright gleam to his glasses that she did not like at all. But, with smile plastered on his face, the student sliced a generous helping of the bavarois for himself and proceeded to eat it without blowing up or turning purple. The two girls both let out a mutual sigh of relief and then turned to glare at each other.

"I would ask you to join in, Taniyama-san, but the bavarois seems too _rich_ for your tastes," the princess continued obnoxiously.

As the student dragged a screaming and kicking Mai from the room, he whispered to her, "Forget the cake, I had the cook's boy place a cockroach in it. Just as well that I didn't eat it…"

"What?" Mai wailed. Oh surely not… Moments later an ear-piercing shriek from the Blue Room which confirmed her worst fears. She rounded fiercely on Yasuhara who had in the mean time escaped, leaving the frustrated girl behind. A light tap on her shoulder caused Mai to jump violently. "Stop that!" she protested before noticing that it was that young footman again.

Looking even more visibly distressed than earlier, he ran a hand through his sandy hair and pronounced in a nervous high-pitched voice, "I'm sorry, my lady, but it seems there is a yet another person seeking permission to be admitted to this house. He is waiting in the front hall."

When Mai arrived panting and pale there, it was to catch the latest visitor in the act of installing a tall ebony staff in the umbrella stand. As he straightened up, she could feel her face heating up. "Sorry," this new and rather handsome stranger said on catching sight of her red complexion and mussed up hair. "Have I arrived at a bad time?"

"Yes, I mean no, of course not!" she babbled. The young man's fantastic blue eyes regarded her with amusement. "Excuse me for intruding like this. I believe we've not met yet…" he said. "I'm Gene, Second Assistant Divinations Master from the Albion School of Magecraft." That, Mai thought, explained at least the dramatic floor-length midnight blue robes and the staff.

"I'm Mai," she said and blushed.

"Mai is it? That's a lovely name! Perhaps I had better explain why I am here," he said as they entered the sitting room where the Royal Tutor was sitting alone. Takigawa blinked up at the mage.

"Oh, it's you. Where's Madoka and the shrew?"

"Still talking to the tree," Gene said as he accepted a cup of tea from Mai. "Thank you, Mai-chan. Now, I don't wish to take up more of your time, so I'll get straight to the point. Takigawa Houshou and I are searching for somebody whom we've reason to believe may be around here. Would your staff and yourself have perhaps noticed a rather unusual frog with green stripes around here?"

"Oh, do you mean a talking frog? Did he escape from your school?" Mai asked. The two men exchanged a look.

"Talking?" Gene echoed. "That's a new development…"

* * *

When Gene was showed into Mai's room, he instantly spotted his brother at the table and chuckled.

"I'll leave then, so that you can get some privacy," Mai said as she closed the door on the two of them.

Naru eyed his brother calmly. "And to think you got here so quickly. The ink on my letter is still wet," he said sarcastically. Gene drew back the desk chair and smiled at his twin.

"Nice to see that you are in the… green glow of health. You really got us worried you know," he said. "Takigawa, Madoka and even Lin-san have been searching for you night and day, did you know that?" Naru twitched irritably.

"How was I to know that the old lady would turn out to be a powerful enchantress with a penchant for being clumsy" he fumed as Gene laughed. "Do you know how to reverse the spell?" he asked anxiously now that there was no one to hear them.

Gene lowered his gaze. "You know I'm a diviner. I can't undo transformation spells." He looked in the direction of the door. "Surely you've noticed that there is a competent spell-breaker in this house," he said.

"_Excuse_ me?"

"Oh, so you haven't noticed that the lovely lady of the house was the one who probably cured you of your habit of croaking?"

For the first time (in a very long time), Naru was struck speechless. "_Mai_ has magical aptitude?" His twin nodded.

"Yes, and of a very unique variety; she deflects magic. Spells don't work very well around her, though I don't think she's aware of it" he explained.

Naru could feel a surge of hope rising. He even almost felt happy again. "All you have to do," Gene continued, "is to get her to kiss you." The happy feeling vaporised immediately and Naru found himself staring at his brother from the pit-bottom of denial.

"What do you mean I have to kiss her?" he demanded indignantly. His brother eyed him with his usual mischievous grin.

"No, no. You misunderstand. _She _has to kiss you," he corrected.

"_Why_?"

Naru didn't care that he was starting to sound like a petulant five-year old. The horror of the situation was dawning slowly on him and he was _not _pleased at all. "Isn't there an alternative?" he asked at last.

"Mai's abilities are connected to her emotions. So technically, if you get her worked up enough, she'll probably be able to reverse it… But, you should know that the equivalent magical force of a kiss is a very painful physical blow to the head. You might die," Gene said dryly. "Or at least, be very severely injured." Naru stared up at his brother in exasperation then.

"How am I supposed to get her to…to…" he muttered bitterly. Normally, as Naru reminded his brother (as if the sight of one's sibling turned into a frog were not obvious enough), _normally_, this wouldn't have been a problem. "Look at her. She likes you. I bet she wouldn't mind kissing you now" he said a trifle sulkily as he surveyed his brother from the top of his head to the ends of his calfskin boots.

"Mother would throw a fit if she finds out you pierced your ears," he commented abruptly.

"They were for my initiation ceremony," Gene replied lightly. "And do I detect jealousy in your peevish observation about what Mai thinks of my appearance?"

"Since a compliment about your physical features is tantamount to complimenting myself," Naru retorted smugly. "I'm saying that she would fall in love with me if I were my normal human self."

"Ah, but do you have my pleasant personality?" his brother smirked. As Naru fell silent again, his brother hugged him gently. "Look, if all else fails, I'll ask the Old Master to have a go at undoing the spell. But, Naru, don't delay it. Madoka's spell-casting is known to be unstable. Who knows if the transformation might develop?"

He set his brother down on the table again. "I've to leave now. I've yet to complete my errand and now Madoka says that she is to escort me back to the school as soon as possible." Naru narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Did she say why?"

His brother sighed again. "Nothing escapes you. Malfina was spotted near here." And although Naru didn't speak, Gene could sense him trembling with barely restrained anger. "Noll," he said softly. "I want you to promise me that you'll stay in here until I leave."

"And I want you to promise me that you'll get someone else to escort you."

"Madoka is a highly accomplished enchantress. Didn't I tell you? She was my mentor in my final apprentice year." He grinned at his brother. "See you around. Best of luck with Mai," he said as he exited the room.

* * *

_**Author's **(lengthy) **notes**_: _Hmm. I hadn't expected to update so soon, but there you go. And yup the answer to that is Gene (who else would those boots have belonged to XD). I am glad that you are enjoying my very first fanfic so much and I promise to update soon. The reviews I have received have been most encouraging and are what keeps me going. Thank you! _

_Positive reviews are fantastic, but I also greatly value any critical comments, so please don't hesitate to tell me if I've made any stupid spelling mistakes or if anything doesn't gel with you generally._

_On another side note, I've re-done the paragraphing for chapter seven, and I hope it looks better now... Paragraphing, it seems, is a problem that has migrated over from my general lack of organisation. Please excuse me while I work on improving that. _


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

_Thank you for your lovely reviews! _

* * *

The day Malfina discovered that Gene had left the stronghold of the Academy, she cackled jubilantly and so loudly and for so long that the flock of pigeons roosting near her marshland hideout gave up their home for good and went away. She began preparing all the items necessary to conduct a divination on his whereabouts and looked up her battered spell book for the nastiest spell inside.

Then, she lost trace of his trail.

As the young enchantress, once the darling of the said Academy gnashed her teeth and threw a spectacular fit at the lost opportunity, he surfaced again, but this time with backup.

Now, he, (with aforementioned backup in tow) were wandering about under the sacred boughs of Grimmwood. Malfina hunkered down behind an old stone well and settled down to observing their actions. To her annoyance, Gene was accompanied by none other than the acclaimed enchantress, Madoka, whose vast store of magical abilities made her a dangerous foe. Then, somehow, Gene had also managed to hook up with a priestess, who was now kicking the sacred oak savagely. Malfina pursed her pretty lips and glared at the older woman. Surely as a priestess of the trees, she ought to be treating this tree with the respect it deserved?

Ayako seized a broken branch and whacked the tree once more.

"Oof!" the tree, which the locals had nicknamed "Old Black" grunted. "Alright. Stop hitting me" it grumbled hoarsely.

"Hear, hear," Takigawa interjected with feeling and earned himself another whack.

Ayako, with hands on her hips, grinned triumphantly at the tree. "Well. Speak up already. We don't have all day. Where's Prince Oliver?"

At this moment, a young man with shining blond hair burst into the clearing and blinked at them, evidently puzzled. Malfina ducked down again. The spirit scowled.

"Drat. I forgot that I had messed up the paths again."

The newcomer ran a hand through his hair. "Oh excuse me, would you happen to know the way to _The Last Homely House_?"

Gene stared at him. "Would you happen to be Sir John Brown?" he asked. The knight's baffled expression turned to hope.

"Master Gene?"

The mage grinned. "The one and only. Would you mind going up to wait for us at the mansion? If you mention Madoka's name, I'm sure they'll let you in."

Takigawa waved his crutch. "I'm going in with him too," he announced. "It's damp in here, and my leg's starting to ache."

Malfina watched as the two men hobbled slowly out of the clearing. The spirit of the tree had floated out slowly, reluctance roiling off it like a heavy cloud. It stroked its long silvery beard and surveyed the motley crew before him. "I really don't see why I have to answer such stupid questions," it muttered finally. "I was _famous_ in my day for my magical prowess and all people want now are simple divination requests which this youngling (here he pointed at Gene) could do just as well."

Gene, who was used to such curmudgeonly behaviour merely smiled and replied calmly. "Well, sir, it's more like the interpretation of the divination which I failed to understand. Surely your eminence can help?" The old spirit raised an eyebrow.

"Flattery is useless," it said severely before relenting. "Oh _fine_.I know when I've run out of my use. But, it so happens that I also in fact know what you are looking for." With a slow, majestic sweep of his star-studded robes, the spirit pointed to the gap between two trees. "It hardly surprises me that you would come looking for that identical young man who passed by these woods some three days back… I forget exactly when…"

"So, where is he now?" Madoka pressed eagerly.

The spirit huffed in annoyance. "If you will stop interrupting me, I would get there," he said coldly. "He is in the residence of the mansion over yonder."

Ayako stared at the tree and then shook her head at her friend. "At Lin's country house? I can't imagine his face when he finds out…"

Gene nodded. "I had better get to where he is then," he said and swept the tree a graceful bow. "Thank you, once again for your assistance sir. You can have my assurances that your services to the Academy and the Royal Court have not been forgotten." With a swirl of his robes, Gene exited the clearing.

Malfina had heard enough. So, both princes were residing in the open beyond the safety of palace or academy. It was almost too good to be true. She chuckled softly and removed herself from the spot behind the well. She would have some planning to do…

* * *

Naru had expected that his twin would have gone the next time he managed to flag down one of the mansion servants and get them to transport him to the sitting room. To his great indignation, Gene had not only failed to leave the house, he had been enjoying a cup of tea and chatting with of all people – Madoka and a red-haired woman who was shooting his reprobate of a tutor some very satisfying glares. Then, seated around the dessert laden table were also the princess of Nihon, a knight from the Southern Kingdoms and… Mai. His heart did a little worried flip. She was already smiling and talking with Gene as if they were the best of friends… and Gene was currently whispering something into her ear. Naru pursed his lips in disapproval at him. Before he could speak to his brother however, Madoka had rushed over, tears in her eyes.

"Oh, my poor Naru! I'm so, so, sorry! Would you forgive me?" she wailed and practically strangled him in a bear hug.

"Mai. Tea," he managed to choke out. She grinned and went to get a spare a teacup without a word of complaint or an insult directed at his person. This was enough to fire up his suspicions again and he glared accusingly at his brother.

"I still think it's a pretty amazing coincidence that brought you here," Gene said quickly to the knight (and pretended not to see his brother's glare). "I hope the sword works well. The Weapons Master said that you should write to him if it doesn't." The knight nodded.

"Yes. We've been plagued by the ridiculous basilisk for far too long. None of our mages would admit to having conjured it up by accident," Sir John said wryly.

The various people had begun occupying themselves with the food on the table. However, more importantly, as Naru felt, Gene was deeply absorbed in a conversation with Madoka and he seized the opportunity to contemplate how best to broach the matter of kissing (he shuddered). _Mai. I think there's some cream on me. Do you think you can remove it with your lips?_ That was sure to go down well. Maybe, if he explained… _you can't like that idiot mage. He's a flirt. I promise that if you mean this kiss I'll turn out to be a much better choice, humanly speaking._ Or, if he kissed her first, she'll get the idea?

He eyed her figure in the distance where she was entertaining Ayako and Masako in the sitting room. _Probably not_. She had a frog phobia after all. Then there was also the matter of the enchantress who had tried to assassinate his twin in a jealous fit of rage lurking around. The house, he noted, was also getting rather crowded. If he delayed this, there was no telling who else was going to witness his attempts to… kiss. Naru licked his own lips and mustered his courage. The fastest way was to tell her exactly what he wanted her to do wasn't it? Gene would probably accuse him of being unromantic and an idiot to boot, but he didn't really care right now, not if that Malfina was lurking in the vicinity and might come back any time to finish him and his brother off.

"Here, your tea, Naru," Mai said when she returned with a tray of steaming tea and cookies. Masako eyed the plate of snacks warily.

"Are you certain that Yasuhara has not touched these?" she asked the other girl.

"Hai, hai. I watched Cook take them out of the oven myself," Mai said and took one herself. Satisfied, Masako picked up the nearest and was about to bite down on it when John and Mai both reached out together and knocked it out of her hand. In the process, Takigawa, who had been sandwiched between them, swore loudly as his tea went flying.

"Sorry", they both apologised.

As the princess sat as one stunned, Mai coughed embarrassedly, "There was a newt's tail sticking out…" Without needing further reference of the unspoken threat that hung over the table, most of the people began automatically conducting inspections of their desserts. Gene's slice of peach turnover turned out to contain another tail.

"Hmm…" he said thoughtfully as he tucked the offending object out of sight under his plate.

"Enjoying tea?" Yasuhara asked cheerfully as he came in and helped himself to a cake that had remained untouched so far. "Mmm. Chocolate! My favourite!" he mumbled through a mouthful as he wandered back out again. In the ensuing flurry as most of the table dived for the cake, Masako pushed her plate aside queasily.

"Perhaps it would be better if you went out for a bit of sun," Mai suggested in a tone of concern as the girl had turned a very odd shade of indigo.

"Mai's right," Sir John added, after having been shoved aside repeatedly by Ayako's very unfeminine elbow. "Perhaps, if you would not mind my company…"

As he and the princess left, the knight turned and smiled reassuringly at Mai who grinned back gratefully. Naru glared after him and Gene smirked.

"Honestly idiot, you can't get jealous of every able-bodied male who smiles at Mai you know."

"Who says I am?" Naru snapped tersely. His brother wasn't helping, and his teacup had been empty for the last five minutes. "Mai. Whenever you are done smiling at the air, get me more tea."

Mai frowned at him. Why her, she thought as she poured more tea for him sullenly. That frog had it coming if somebody (meaning herself) whacked him really hard. "Didn't your mother teach you manners?" she groused as she slid the teacup back towards the frog.

"I was also taught not to waste anything, including my mannerism lessons."

"Why you little…" Mai seethed.

"Frog. Order _Amphibia_, class _Anura_. Surely your vocabulary isn't as poor as to be unable to find even a basic description for me?" he mocked.

"Narcissistic idiot!" she finally yelled and flounced off in a huff.

"Oh, admit you like her already," Gene whispered and patted his brother comfortingly on his little froggy head.

* * *

**_Author's notes:_** In truth I had meant Gene's appearance to be much more limited to the story, but there has been something insidious about the way he has managed to flirt (ahem) wander into the story in so much detail.

_Ariana Taniyama: LOL. I quite agree that a septic tank is quite what Yasuhara deserves. I don't know about Masako though... I personally feel she needs a break from the madness that is Lin's house now_

_Azamiko: Ah, but then Naru wouldn't get to fret about it first right? XD. But yes. I imagine that being the pragmatic rationalist, Naru would eventually come to the same conclusion. But well, we'll see how. He's already spoiled his chances in the meantime._

_blackwitchkarma: I hope this chapter answers some of your questions. And as regards the matter of John disappearing, when I first planned the story, I hadn't wanted John and Gene to meet up so quickly yet. If you'll recall, John had earlier written to Gene at the Academy regarding a magical matter. Unfortunately, the backstory in the first part of this story meant that they HAD already met. Sorry for any confusion caused..._


	10. Chapter 10

Ms Bat regrets to inform her beloved readers that as her obligations to work have increased for the month of Aug and with the advent of academia and societal responsibilities, she will only be able to update at the speed of slugs and snails. She hopes that you will wait patiently in the mean time and entertain yourself thinking up long and lengthy reviews to encourage her writing speed. She will also attempt to leave weekly updates on the status of her writing projects and other little reading tidbits on her profile.

_Onward to the chapter!_

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

* * *

Meanwhile, His Excellency, Sir Lin Koujo remained as clueless as to the whereabouts of the prince as he was the day the latter decided to wander off in the shape of a tiny amphibian. He sneezed morosely as he made discreet inquiries at the university, and failing that, the market place, the town square and all surrounding farms… to no avail. Had he known it, in his search, he had in fact squelched through the very field filled with the same wild-eyed sheep which the missing prince (now a frog) had earlier encountered. It was also getting harder and harder to hide anything from the King and Queen, who were demanding with increasing regularity to know why on earth their Trade Minister was hobnobbing with the visiting herpetological professor or the farmers, as this very latest interview indicated.

"I think you ought to go take a break and rest up, Koujo. Let your assistant go through the proposal for the negotiations with Nihon," the king said, taking pity of the bedraggled appearance of one of his closest aides.

The Minister of Trade Relations bowed politely. "If my lord wishes it," he murmured and exited the king's private study with the same gloomy mood he'd entered the room with. If his majesty had _any idea_…Lin shuddered to think of the consequences. Perhaps he ought to inform his ward that he would be back for dinner tomorrow. He definitely needed a day off.

* * *

The infuriated girl stomped off into the kitchen, where Madoka and her friend were bending over a smoking pot on the stove. When Mai entered, bearing the empty teapot with her, the two women jumped guiltily.

"What's that?" Mai asked with narrowed eyes as she set the kettle to boil. Madoka smiled over brightly.

"Why, nothing. Is that tea for Naru?"

The girl snorted. "He can't even survive ten minutes without it," she muttered under her breath. The enchantress laughed.

"Correction. I once saw him last an hour without it. You're spoiling him by humouring him," she said. The younger girl was surprised.

"How would you know that?"

It was Ayako's turn to be surprised. "Don't tell me you don't know who that frog of yours is. I would have thought… his name…"

Mai shook her head. "Should I?"

And, in spite of Mai's repeated attempts to try to wheedle out an answer from either of them, all she got were knowing smirks and giggles. "Well, we won't ruin the surprise for you," said Madoka firmly when she cornered her later that day. Disappointed, Mai had wandered back into the sitting room only to find that it was occupied by a small gaggle of people. Squeezing her way between Yasuhara and the knight, Sir John, she blanched at the sight of the _biwa_, which Takigawa was currently in possession of. Masako took it from him. "No, no. See? You hold it like this," she explained before passing it back to him.

"Doesn't…anyone want to stop him?" she protested feebly when a loud blast went off.

Lin, who had just stepped out of his coach, winced at the loud explosion. A roll of soft pink smoke floated out from the back part of the mansion. "I say… it looks a little like cotton candy," his coachman murmured vaguely and then shook himself embarrassedly. Lin gave the man a stern look and then strode ahead, pausing only to swing shut the gate. He smiled fondly at the plaque which had the words _The Last Homely House_ etched on it. Trust Mai to christen his remote country house with that name. And speaking of females with weird habits or ideas, there was no doubt, he thought, as he handed his hat and gloves to the strained looking footman, Madoka was behind the latest loud occurrence. Then he noticed the odd looking items that his umbrella stand had acquired.

Stepping into the sitting room, the minister was greeted by an awed silence. The reason for this was Takigawa Houshou, who ran his fingers lightly over the instrument. A stream of impossibly beautiful music came from it. Masako was visibly impressed. "If I hadn't known better, I would have said that you must have trained under one of our own musicians," she commented.

However, before Lin could ask what they were doing in his house, he was ambushed by a strong hug. "Lin!" the excited female voice that accompanied the hug squeaked. "You're back!"

Startled, the only thing Lin could do was ask, "Mori-san. Do I want to know what's going on?" The enchantress winked at him.

"Wait till you find out who you have in your house…"

* * *

Mai coughed and waved aside a plume of pink smoke. The kitchen, mercifully, was still intact even if the table in the middle seemed to be covered in its entirety with vivid pink goo.

"I don't suppose you would know where the tea is, would you," a voice asked through the haze.

Mai looked around and spotted Naru sitting patiently by the sink. "My kitchen is a mess of pink…stuff and you want to know where the _tea_ is?" she asked in disbelief. Naru shifted slightly to look up at her.

"I think better when I've had it," he explained calmly.

Shoulders sagging, she sighed and went to fill the kettle with water. While waiting, Mai took a rag and tried to mop up some of the goo. To her disgust, it clung on the cloth and remained stubbornly stuck even when she tried to wash it off. As she did so, Naru came over and peered at the rag which she had draped on the sink. "It looks like a love potion," he commented with a glance through the door to where Ayako and Madoka were attempting to discreetly mop at their smudged faces. Mai flopped down on to a chair.

"I give up. Besides, it's their fault," she mumbled.

The kettle whistled. "So… what sort of tea would you like?" she asked, her earlier antagonism to the frog having vanished.

"You could recommend me something," he said quickly and surprised both himself and her.

"Is that actually a request?" she asked, hazel eyes twinkling.

"You might not believe it, but I am actually capable of speak decently when I have to. Now hurry up. I don't have all day," Naru replied stiffly.

"Hai, hai!" she grinned and took down the small container of Lin's prized white tea. As she filled Naru's cup for him, she reflected that there had to be something positive to say about someone who enjoyed her tea so much. Even if that person happened to be a frog and refused even to admit that he liked the tea she made.

Naru put down his cup (still floral and gilt-edged). "I have something to say to…" he started to say when a stream of beautiful music floated into the room. Takigawa was turning out to be a blessing and Mai settled back to listen dreamily, pleased that the Royal tutor's presence prevented Yasuhara from his musical explorations. Naru gave a small huff of impatience. As the music drew to an end and Takigawa basked in the applause and whistles, he tried again. "Mai," he began meaningfully, "there is something you ought to…"

The sentence was never finished as Lin chose this same moment to rush in. To the young girl's bafflement, her guardian charged past her to the sink and stared at Naru as if he'd never seen a frog before.

"Have you any _idea_ what you've put your tutors through? What about your _parents_?" he practically roared.

"Now, Lin-san, you really must calm down," Madoka said in a mollifying tone and seized him gently by the elbow. "Mai? Is that tea I smell? If you would get your guardian a cup…"

Lin seemed to notice her for the first time. "Did _you _know this as well?" he barked.

"She doesn't," Madoka said firmly, coming to Mai's rescue. "Now, let's head back to the sitting room…" Still tugging on his elbow, she led him out of the room, turning to give Naru a look that clearly meant _if I hear that you've upset Mai even more than she already is, you'll get it_.

Naru felt as if he'd been treated extremely unfairly. For one thing, it wasn't him that had reduced Mai to sniffling miserably in a goo covered kitchen. For another thing, since he often made people feel like that anyway, and he was hardly up to the task of comforting them. Nevertheless, whatever he might have felt, Madoka's unspoken threat made it plain that he was to pick up the pieces regardless if it had really been his fault. He sighed.

"Perhaps it would be better if you finish making the tea," he suggested. Mai looked at him as if that was the last thing on her mind. "Madoka asked you to make some tea for Lin," he reminded her.

As Mai went through the motions mechanically, her thoughts skimmed the events of the past few days. Naru's flawless handwriting, his narcissism and appreciation for astronomy, Yasuhara's respectful address whenever he spoke to the frog, the sudden appearance of many people at the house in search of said frog, Madoka's mysterious smiles, Lin, normally so stoic having an outburst…

"Should I know who you are, _Shibuya_?" she asked flatly. Naru was staring steadily at her out of copper eyes.

"Does it matter?"

She thumped down the tea set angrily. "_Lin _clearly thinks it does! And Madoka knows. The Countess knows. Sir Takigawa knows. _Gene _knows. Yasuhara also probably does. _I _don't! How long are you going to keep me in the dark?"

"You're just angry because Lin accused you of something you haven't been able to see yourself," he stated coolly.

"I know I'm not as _intelligent_ as you are! But just so you know, I'm also not as big an idiot as you are," she replied frigidly and went out with the tea.

* * *

**_Author's notes: _**An angry Lin wasn't on the books either, but it just happened. I hope I've not ruined anyone's image of Naru's long-suffering assistant. And I do wonder, has anyone managed to figure out where I've gotten the name for Lin's house from? =p**_  
_**

_Ariana Taniyama: And if it does, it would be getting his just desserts i suppose. XD_

_HarunoRin: And... Naru screws up again! Though you have to hand it to him for trying. Ah well. He'll get a chance to redeem himself sooner or later. Can't say more for now. ;)  
_

_Jillian Rachel: Yes. Haha. I've to agree that childish men, especially Naru, make good fun as writing material._


	11. Chapter 11

National holidays are good because this means I can update! Thank you for your encouragement!

**Important Notice: **Some of you may have noticed that I deleted this chapter and reuploaded it. This is because the update was not being reflected correctly on the website proper. Sorry for the confusion. The content for this chapter remains the same except for this new note.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

* * *

Barricaded inside Mai's room, Naru had the entire pink and yellow wallpapered afternoon to contemplate the events that had transpired so far. First, his twin had borrowed the place in order to admonish him and to nag at him about time constraints. Then, Madoka and Lin both came in and repeated the same tirade at him, with the added threat that he completely deserved to be stuck as a frog. Lin in particular had stared fiercely at him and issued the following warning, "I am responsible for the happiness of my ward. As such, prince or no prince, I expect that you treat her feelings with the care that you ought to show others."

This was really too much. No one had ever _said_ anything like that before to him. Not that they hadn't tried. He'd usually used his killer glance at them first. If Naru was completely honest with himself however, he would have admitted to feeling guilt at the way his sharp tongue had lashed out unmercifully at Mai. After all, he'd been on the verge of telling her his predicament before he'd been so rudely interrupted, by Lin (of all people) and Takigawa (unsurprisingly). As such, he felt that the ill-favoured look he gave his tutor when Takigawa next came in was not uncalled for.

"Look. I suppose you do have a reason to be mad at me, but if there's anything I can do I would you know." his tutor said as he sat down on Mai's bed. When Naru merely eyed him with indifference, the man shrugged easily and said, "What I mean to say is, I can lend you a listening ear… that is, if you've anything to air…" Takigawa Houshou hadn't really expected the prince to listen, and was therefore taken aback when Naru finally spoke.

"There was a short period, when, after falling out of your window, that I couldn't remember who I was. And when I did, I swore that the first thing I would do would be to sack you."

"That bad eh…"

"You're a horrible tutor."

"Now that's putting it too harshly don't you…"

"Think? Not when _you _fall asleep during class."

"Well-"

"When your Latin is worse than mine," Naru added.

"…"

"When your grasp of arithmetic is almost certainly of an elementary level…"

Takigawa sagged. "Alright, now that you've put it that way…"

Naru continued on relentlessly as if he hadn't heard, "And you ended the last etiquette class early because one of the palace maids came in to give you a hiding about stealing the Queen's fan." His tutor winced. "But," he said finally, "I have to admit that you make a passable music tutor."

"Really? Come on, be honest now… I was more than passable wasn't I?" Takigawa smirked.

"If you say so," his student answered shortly. "I don't remember learning to play anything other than the guitar from you."

Takigawa chuckled. "And here I was being prepared to hear you lament about the sad state of your love affair with Lin's ward. You really do know how to pick em don't you."

Naru ignored the jibe. In truth, he was already secretly panicking about that, not that his tutor was going to ever hear him confess to that. However, he didn't have to as his lanky tutor nodded as if he_ had_ and smiled in a fatherly fashion at him.

"I know I don't set a good example, but trust me on this. Apologise to her," he advised before leaving.

* * *

As she fought back her tears, Mai wondered why on earth she was being so strongly affected by a mere pond frog. If it had been any other of the stupid creatures, she would have kicked it back to the well from where it'd crawled from, never mind if it could speak a dozen languages. She placed the tea before Lin, who still seemed to be in a black mood and hastily backed away upstairs. On seeing the new housemaid going up the stairs as well, she told the brown-haired girl to inform the Cook of the mess in the kitchen. The girl nodded politely. Then, changing her mind, Mai went back to the kitchen where Madoka and Gene were unceremoniously dumping Naru into a bowl of clean water.

"May I borrow your room again, Mai-chan?" Judging by Gene's ominous tone, Naru wasn't going to get off the hook lightly.

"Of course," she replied loftily and went to get the rag again. Madoka stopped her this time.

"It wasn't your fault, Mai. Aya-chan and I will clean up in here," she said as the countess poked her elegant head round the door curiously.

"What? Oh, er yes. You should go and rest up. Healer's orders."

"That's right. And Gene? When you are done, Lin and I would have something to speak to Naru about."

With that, Mai found herself being pushed by two pairs of strong female arms towards the exit. There she found herself face to face with Sir John who appeared to be waiting to speak to her. Still sniffling slightly, she gave the mild looking knight a watery smile.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yasuhara-san told me that you had a copy of Lord Townsend's book on Nihon. I was wonderin' if I could borrow it," the young man explained.

"Oh… that's in the library."

As they went up the stairs, Mai could hear soft rustlings from the Blue Room, a sign that no doubt meant that Masako was once again holed up in it. Sir John sighed gently and looked wistfully at the door as they passed it. Mai who had looked back to see what was detaining him smirked. Sir John blushed a little.

"She's really shy isn't she?" he said and ran up to join her at the top of the stairs. If she wanted to be brutally honest, Mai would have said it was more like she was a royal pain, but a look at the devoted expression on the knight's face and she found herself grunting noncommittally instead. The book was lying on a chair where she'd left it earlier and she held it out to him.

"It's actually Lin-san's," she explained. "You might want to let him know you're borrowing it. I think he ordered it because he wanted to prepare for the trade negotiations with Masako." The knight nodded.

"Thanks," he said gratefully. "If there's anything you would like…"

She smiled at him. "You know, there is one thing. Have you ever put down a fight at The Hunter's Inn in Grimmwood?"

The knight blushed again, this time in embarrassment. "Oh. You were there were you?" He ran a hand distractedly through his hair.

"You were really good! I never saw anyone who could throw a punch like that," she said. The knight grinned.

"There were always monsters out in the desert where I lived when I was younger. I grew up practising," he explained sheepishly.

"I bet Masako would be very impressed if you tell her," Mai remarked casually.

"You think?" The knight asked hopefully.

She nodded sagely. "And, it so happens that there are some really nice _long_ walks around the house. You should show her some of them…"

"Great! I'll go ask her," he said eagerly as he ran down the stairs towards the Blue Room. "Oh…and Miss Mai? Everything'll turn out just fine, you'll see," he smiled.

Feeling slightly more cheered up by the knight's assurance, Mai hummed lightly as she rounded the corner and bumped straight into her guardian. Lin looked down at her solemnly. "Would you please come into my study?"

* * *

INTERLUDE

_What Sir John did next_

"Why do you think the sheep are thinking?" she eyed them doubtfully. The sheep looked as they always did, vacant and chewing cud.

"I don't really know," the young knight admitted. "Except, today, they just look more… intellectual, I suppose. It's a look in their eyes, a spark of awareness that isn't always there on show."

And true enough, the sheep had indeed been thinking. They had in fact been wondering why on earth it always rained on them, that so far, in spite of being set in a story titled _A Froggy Tale_, they had only so far encountered only one small and completely forgettable mundane green frog.

"Oh, let's get going," Masako said eventually. "Looking at all those wet wool makes me feel dampened." Sir John nodded in agreement.

"It's getting late too, and it'll be cold out. Here," he said, and held out his unfastened cloak to her shyly. "You'll better keep warm, princess. Albion is far wetter than what you're used to..."

* * *

**_Author's notes: Not much Mai-Naru this time. But I feel that after ten chapters, now's an apt time to build up some of the other characters that have had little beyond theatrics (Takigawa) and cameos (John) so far. As for the timeline for this chapter, it sort of mirrors the time spent with Naru and Mai each separately getting the encouragement they've been needing._**

_Ariana Taniyama: Thank you for being so understanding! I guess the snail booster worked though because I've updated again even before I myself expected to._

_MochiMochi-tan: No worries. And yup! Absolutely correct. The description of how it's a place for rest and light entertainment absolutely fits the story... until Yasuhara turned up at least. That and how Lin reminds me a little of the film version Elrond... being all stern and all..._

_Tenru Wingstorm & HarunoRin: Ah yes... thank you for reminding me. So it's not too far off if he blows a fuse then_

_The Narrator: Wow. FOUR reviews at a go?! Thank you very much. I am most honoured. (ref. Chp 4 - *grins* You noticed! =D)_

_Toyama-chan: You know I can't give away the plot... =p_


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

* * *

Mai sat down in front of her guardian's desk with trepidation. Lin had not sat down but was fiddling with the decanter of brandy and Mai watched as he poured a liberal amount for himself before finally settling into his chair and contemplated her silently for a few minutes, one hand still curled lightly around the glass. Two years ago, it'd been that hand which had been extended to her, then a penniless orphan in the streets outside her own home. Looking at that hand, Mai was struck once again by how he'd selected her out of the rest to lend his aid to. Now, two years later, she wondered if he was disappointed that she had turned out so…normal.

"I'm sorry about not informing you," she said and looked down. "And with Masako-hime and Yasuhara in the house and then Gene-san turning up, I clean forgot… I don't actually have a good excuse," she mumbled. "I wish I did though. I'm truly sorry."

Lin's lips twisted wryly. "Wishing won't changed the fact that in the past four days, I've wandered in wet fields, been yelled at, consulted mad professors, and had my sanity doubted by His Majesty, among other things, and all because of one little frog."

Mai cringed.

He broke into a small smile. "With so many things happening, I must have really lost it. Will you forgive me?" he asked gravely.

Mai blinked. "W-what?" she stuttered. "I mean, yes, of course."

"I've also additionally, to apologise for leaving you to deal with the princess alone. At the least, I should have sent my assistants at the Trade Office to help you out. As someone who is used to working independently, I tend to forget that others might need assistance where I don't."

Mai smiled back. "We really need to work on this whole guardianship thing don't we," she said shyly.

The older man laughed. "You mean _I _have to work on it." He ruffled her hair. "You on the other hand have been an exemplary ward," he replied. "Now, if everything's settled..."

"Wait! I er…" Mai's face reddened and she looked down at her palms.

"Is there anything else?"

Twisting the material of her skirt anxiously, Mai took a deep breath. Now that Lin's good mood seemed to have been restored, she decided to go ahead with the questions that had been gnawing at her all day. "Umm… Who… who exactly is Naru, or should I say, Kazuya Shibuya?"

Lin regarded the faint blush that coloured his ward's cheeks with a raised eyebrow. Clearly, someone had let slip something. He sipped his brandy thoughtfully. The prince had specifically not wanted his identity revealed, and while he had not said so in so many words, Lin suspected the boy's inflated pride to be at the bottom of it. Nevertheless, there _was _the official reason that Naru had given as well, a reason that Madoka had concurred with. Malfina had been sighted close by and it would be better if Naru's predicament was not spread about. But, given how Mai was now implicated in the mess as well (even if she didn't know _exactly_ how much); he felt he owed her an explanation of sorts.

"He…is someone important," Lin said, choosing his words carefully.

"I think I got that from how you flipped out earlier."

Lin had the grace to look sheepish. "Well," he began, "Naru has his reasons for not revealing his identity. As you might have guessed, Kazuya Shibuya is a pseudonym. Part of it is a safety measure; though his reticence is due also to how he is not the most forthcoming of persons."

"Oh, but now that you've found him, does that mean he can go back to being normal?"

Lin grimaced involuntarily. _Normal__ is hardly the sort of word used to describe the daily dysfunction of the Royal household, that and how the nature of the spell breaking was, for a lack of better words, 'iffy'. _"That depends on some…unknown factors," he said as he considered the said iffy unknown factor sitting across the table from him.

Mai pouted at the evasive answers she was receiving in apparent dissatisfaction.

"Why?" Lin asked quickly. "Is he that horrible a room mate and you can't wait to get rid of him?"

"What? Oh, no, compared to the time when Yasuhara..."

Lin frowned severely at the preposterous notion of the university student spending nights in his ward's room but that led back to the even more outrageous one of _Naru_ doing so. He shook his head and tried to focus on what Mai had to say instead.

"…he's actually been really quiet and nice. I mean, not that Yasuhara-kun is irritating. He's really sweet too but he does tend to get carried away…"

_Nice_? Lin smirked at Mai's choice of description for the arrogant prince. Mai had evidently caught herself on that though, because she shook herself, still blushing fiercely. "But, even then, Yasuhara isn't as bossy, narcissistic, irritatingly smug and tea-addicted as Naru is. You wouldn't believe how much tea one small frog can down!" she complained.

"I…see…" Lin said as if not quite willing to believe that he was hearing the numerous faults of the crown prince of Albion being so aptly captured by a girl who had only known him for a few days. It was a pity he wasn't there to hear it himself.

"He is a jerk and an idiot, has no sense of timing, emotionally repressed, too smart for his own good, a wet-blanket and unhelpful. I mean, being stuck as a frog is horrible, and he's excused for sulking, but I… he…" Mai had evidently run out of steam and Lin tried not to snigger.

"Well, I might be presuming too much, but I assume that means you don't actually mind him?"

"I…" Mai gaped, at a sudden loss of words. "I suppose not," she muttered, still red-faced.

"Well then, if that's finally settled," Lin announced (more to his own benefit though, as Mai's question hadn't exactly been answered), "why don't we go see what cook has prepared for dinner?"

On opening the door however, they discovered Madoka crouching at the keyhole. Lin raised an eyebrow at her. Unabashed, the enchantress hugged Mai.

"There, see. The grumpy bear turned out to be cuddlier than you thought right?" Lin frowned at them in disapproval. Still laughing, Madoka kissed him lightly on the cheek as a red-faced Mai looked pointedly down at her grubby dress. "I-I better go get changed," she said hastily.

As Mai ran towards the room, she knocked into the housemaid again. _Ow_, she winced and massaged her arm tenderly. The housemaid, whose cap had been knocked off, glared at her. "I'm sorry," Mai said anxiously. "Does it hurt a lot?" she asked, misinterpreting the glare as a grimace of pain.

"Yes, you foo- I mean, no, of course not, ma'am." The maid eyed her warily. "If you'll excuse me, I had better go see if the cook needs help," she muttered and went down the corridor rapidly.

* * *

Safely ensconced in her room, Mai found herself faced with a new difficulty, or, to be exact, two difficulties. The first was that Naru was currently sulking on her desk beside his basin, and the second, though far less important, nevertheless posed a problem as well – what dress she ought to wear to dinner. Lin was back, and the occasion called for more formal clothing. Naru watched as the girl pulled dress after dress from her cupboard and growing more and more frustrated as she did.

"Don't say a word," she grumbled when Naru hopped over to the bed. "I'm still mad at you."

"Wear the navy blue one," Naru said with his usual habit of appearing not to have heard her.

Mai put her hands on her hips and frowned at the frog. "Given your narcissism, I thought you would say green."

"I'm not usually _green_."

The girl snorted. "Huh. Excuse me if I say that you deserve to be stuck being green, _Kazuya Shibuya_." Mai smirked at the frog's wary expression.

"Don't think I don't know who you are. I noticed that you happen to be interested in astronomy and one of Lin's new books happens to be that title too. You're that professor who's fallen 'ill' aren't you? Lin wouldn't tell me how he got to know you, but you _must _have links with the palace, or you wouldn't have known him at all." When Naru still remained stubbornly silent, Mai grinned smugly.

"Very well," she said airily. "Silent means agreement. I'll even take your suggestion, since you were nice enough to let me choose the tea just now."

"Mai."

"What?" She asked as she began reaching for the buttons on her dress. It was Naru's turn to smirk.

"Are you going to change in here?"

* * *

Still red-faced, Mai rushed down to the dining room twenty minutes later. _Serves Naru right if he's locked out tonight_, she thought as she eyed her reflection critically in the hall mirror once more. The square neck with the delicate lace ruffles was lower than she liked and she was still trying to adjust it when Masako drifted past in a turquoise kimono with gold dragons stitched on it.

"Ara… If only there was something down there to examine in the first place…" she murmured serenely behind her fan as Mai rushed after her furiously.

"Take back what you said you said you coward! And stop getting your servants to shield you!" she hollered when she found her way barricaded the princess's formidable black-clad bodyguard.

"Oi, come on. Let the injured man pass through," Sir Takigawa shouted good-naturedly from behind and waved his crutch at the silently immobile figure. The next instant however he was clutching his head where Lady Ayako had whacked him. "_Why _do you insist on hitting me?" he protested as Mai giggled. The countess snorted loudly.

"Huh! It's a wonder you didn't manage to break your _other _leg going up the stairs to see your reprobate student's by yourself just now," she replied brusquely before brushing past the imposing looking bodyguard as if he'd been of no more consequence than a decorative pillar.

Sir Takigawa gaped after her and then shook his head in admiration. "That woman…" he turned to Mai and offered her his hand gallantly, "Shall we?"

* * *

**_Author's notes: Argh! This chapter got so unwieldy that I had to chop some of it out. (Here it is anyway)_**

_Ariana Taniyama: And here, we have a litany of a different sort. Thank you for being so patient!_

_Azamiko: Aye! Sheep are so cute and fluffy!_

_FallenRaindrops: Glad you like the way its been going. I hope this chapter didn't disappoint._

_Jillian Rachel: Thank you! That means a lot to me, newbie that I still consider myself to be._

_miss koneko: From my perspective, it's always better late than never. XD_

_Toyama-chan: My dear Toyama-chan, firstly, if you refer back to Chapter 5, you would notice that the person who informed Yasuhara of Mai's disapperance was the head cook and not the maid. Secondly, I understand that I've not quite dealt with all the characters' background, this of course including Yasuhara's. I imagine that he is a good friend of Mai's and who lives nearby and is always stressing Lin out when he visits - an unwelcome guest of sorts. (And yes, sheep are adorable)_

_TrueShiningStar: And you are awesome for saying so =)_


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

* * *

People did _not _fall in love at first sight. Or at least, people like Naru did not. So, why then, did he always behave like an idiot around her when he had no problems shunting aside so many girls up till then? He told himself that having the body of a frog was messing with his thinking process; that being transformed had left him green and vulnerable and was subjecting him to alien emotions.

This, however still didn't address how the problem seemed to lie more with the exasperating girl who was lying comfortably on a grassy tussock below his perch on the well. It wasn't as if she was exceptionally beautiful. True, she had a nice, open smile and bright eyes that belied at least an iota of intelligent wit under her apparent ignorance. But then, she was also incredibly clumsy, and whatever else may be said about her sharp wit, she was also very dense about the events that were happening directly around her...

As she stretched out beneath the green canopy of Grimmwood, Mai sighed happily. How pleasant it would be if she could just lie there on the soft grass the entire day. It would be even better, she thought if one annoying frog hadn't followed her out here, but there was no helping it as everybody, including her guardian had practically shoved the amphibian on her. When she had looked pleadingly at Lin, he'd averted his gaze guiltily. "Consider it as a favour to the kingdom," he'd said cryptically from behind his newspaper at last and refused to explain despite being pressed by the puzzled girl. As far as she knew, while astronomy was a perfectly respectable field of study, it was hardly the sort of subject that kingdoms would go to war over.

"Ne… Naru. What does it feel like to be stuck as a frog?" she asked. Naru peered at her steadily, a slight tilt to his head as he considered her question.

"Annoyed. And generally useless," he replied at last. "Why? Do you want to be one? It's not as if you are far from that," he smirked.

Mai huffed angrily.

"Of course not! I was asking because, well, I don't think anyone asked."

Naru looked pointedly at himself. "Do _I_ look like I enjoy being stuck as a frog?"

"Can't Gene or Madoka help?"

He turned slightly away. "They have done all they can," he said after a pause. To his surprise, she patted him gently.

"If there's anything at all that I and Lin can do…"

As they lapsed into an awkward silence, Naru wondered anxiously if _now _would be the right time. He looked down at the soft brown head and found himself despairing when the carefully rehearsed speech he had crafted seemed to have gone up in smoke. His twin had been right when he'd implied that their personalities were too different. Gene made friends while he made antagonistically blunt comments.

_Who was it_, he wondered distractedly, who had said that it was a universal truth that every man in possession of a good fortune would automatically be seeking a wife? Whoever it was had never met him. He'd always been the exception to the rule. Most people were either intelligent _or_ good-looking in differing variations and he was both. Most people also weren't royalty or had magic, and unlike most crown princes his age, Naru was not of the marrying mindset; he had a brother after all. In short, Naru was used to having his cake and eating it and he didn't see why it shouldn't apply to dealing with Mai either. He took a breath. There was no time like the present after all, and he might as well get it over and done with...

*** *** ***

"I had not known that Lin had a ward," Naru commented lamely before mentally kicking himself. That hadn't been what he'd wanted to say at all… He had wanted to... he winced inwardly.

Mai half-opened an eye and looked up to where the frog was sitting on the rim of the well and sighed. "It's a long story. After my parents died in a shipping accident, all their debts were called in and I was left without anything at all. The creditors were in the middle of clearing out my home when Lin happened to be driving past." She shrugged. "There was a lot of fuss made at the Merchant's Guild where my parents had been members of… I suppose I was lucky that Lin-san would even he-" Naru snorted.

Mai frowned at him.

"Before you think that I'm going to insult you," Naru said, "I was going to say that it's typical of Lin to extend a helping hand."

"Oh," Mai blushed apologetically. "Wait a minute," she jumped up suddenly.

"You _know_ Lin-san? Funny. I don't think he's ever mentioned you." She frowned thoughtfully. 'Come to think of it, why does everyone call you Naru too? It's not like it rhymes with Kazuya Shibuya…"

If frogs could roll their eyes, Naru would have done so at that moment. "The nickname you gave me is an unfortunate corruption of a ridiculous name which my brother called me when we were younger."

"You have a brother? Lin-san must know a lot more people than I thought he did… Does he know your family well? Where do you live usually?" Mai had latched onto this new piece of information with more interest than he had expected and he quickly interrupted her.

"Surely you know what your guardian has been appointed to do."

Mai smiled wryly. "Oh I don't know about that. I think I messed up. Besides, I don't really think I am good with helping Lin-san at all. He's hardly at home these days." She leaned down and drew her knees to her.

"Lin holds a very important position at the palace," Naru replied, a trifle gentler now that he was getting the drift of the conversation. "Trade is essential for the well-being of Albion."

"If you ask me, there's no point in working so hard if you don't get to enjoy yourself too," Mai said with a wry smile and suspecting correctly that the little frog was really a workaholic.

"Well, for one thing, I didn't ask you," Naru retorted, though inwardly, he felt that she had a point (not that he was going to tell her anytime soon).

"And a frog without a care like you would know, right?" she laughed and poked at his side. Naru yelped involuntarily and fell backwards into the well ungracefully. When he resurfaced, he could see Mai leaning down and grinning toothily at him.

"Just for that, I think I could forgive your narcissism," she announced before leaning back against the cool stone wall to look up at the bits of cloud drifting serenely by. "Besides, she smirked, "you owe me one for not telling me who you really are."

"If anything, you ought to have realised that talking amphibians are not a usual phenomenon in this world, even with magic." He glared at her as he hopped back out in disgruntlement. Thoughts of reducing Lin's workload were being rapidly replaced by ones which involved giving the insolent girl the lecture she totally deserved.

"Yeah, and I would know a lot about that," Mai mumbled defensively.

"Narcissism, in my case, is a virtue, and I'm not really a frog. You know that."

"I do! And the next time you'll tell me you're really a prince," she mocked. "I may not have the brains of an astronomer but I'm not _stupid_. This is life, not some fairy tale."

Naru stiffened.

"What if it is?"

She dusted down her skirts. "Mmm? What is?"

Then, before she had time to even look up, Naru abruptly leapt right at her.

"Look out!"

Stumbling on a tree root that hadn't been there earlier, Mai fell heads forward onto the frog.

"Oof!" she mumbled dazedly and tried to get her bearings righted. There seemed to be someone new in the woods.

"Curses," this new person muttered peevishly and bent down to pick up the limp body of the frog.

The housemaid wrinkled her freckled nose as she held Naru up by his webbed foot. "This. Is disgusting," she grumbled before shrugging. "Well, no harm done, even if the spell missed. I've got what I wanted anyway." Slipping the unconscious frog into her apron pocket, the housemaid tossed aside her cap. "_And_, the great thing is that I can finally get rid of this ridiculous costume."

Mai blinked. "Wait! W-where are you t-taking him?"

The other girl stopped in the act of leaving the clearing. "Somewhere you won't get to see him again," she answered coldly. Mai shuddered. The mere voice of the enchantress was enough to send an instinctive chill down her spine and in spite of her earlier annoyance, Mai found herself feeling a sense of protectiveness for Naru now.

"You can't!" she yelled.

Malfina's deep amber eyes flared. "I've waited this long to get my revenge and you aren't stopping me!" She raised a hand and brought it down swiftly in a burst of blinding white light.

* * *

When he woke up, Naru found himself wincing slightly as a shaft of bright light pierced directly into his vision. As he lifted a hand to shield himself from the glare, he frowned. Something felt not quite right… or rather, something did. As he lowered his hand cautiously, a pair of eyes leapt out at him. Instinctively scrabbling back, Naru felt a little foolish when he realised he was in fact looking at a red-rimmed and mussed up reflection of himself. Wait. Mussed up hair? Red-rimmed _blue _eyes?

* * *

**_Author's notes: Sorry for taking so long with this chapter! I hope it delivers and that the changes in perspective is not too confusing. And spot the reference to a certain novel? hint hint - "J.A."_**

**_By the way, I am thinking of replying directly to reviews as I can't say when I'll update again. Would you, dear reader/reviewer/potential reviewer prefer that?_**

_Ariana Taniyama: Argh! Thank you for pointing that out! And I agree that it's really too ba__d, but I don't think I can eke out the energy for another madcap dinner (which would no doubt involve Yasuhara). Perhaps later... if I can find the space to squeeze in one._

_Azamiko: Haha. He's awfully protective of her. I think I can put a hint out for the next chapter - you can expect a little more of what Lin thinks about this whole fiasco._

_blackwitchkarma: And she would happen, of course to be! lol._

_FallenRaindrops: *Grins* You've really made my day. Thank you for waiting and still enjoying my fic after all this while._

_HarunoRin: Here it is in it's updated form. Hope you liked it. _

_Jillian Rachel: Maybe I'm not a newbie to the writing thing, but I am for fanfics at least. XD I believe a few chapters back, she shoved him unceremoniously into her drawer. Stands to reason that he'd get back... eventually._

_lionwhizk: So am I! =D_

_miss koneko: Haha. Well. To more MaixNaru moments! *toast*_

_Somnium Mos: No worries. It's ok to cheat =p Whoa. AP Physics? Would that be work or school? Either way, you have my mutual sentiments when it comes to being thwarted in doing things one enjoys. Nice new name by the way._

_Toyama-chan: It's weird. I never thought I could pull a Yasuhara off. Haha. And of course Mai won't change in front of Naru. =p *will think of a situation for her to in future, if only to, as you so aptly put it, torture Naru*_

_Twilight Journey: Thank you for the compliment!_


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

To everyone who reviewed last chapter and asked what happened, here it is.

* * *

Lin frowned slightly. "Aren't we breaking out the champagne a little too early?"

Yasuhara grinned as he swivelled the delicate glass. "It's never too early for a celebratory drink." Gene nodded in agreement from his place on the couch.

"Even if Naru is too thick to confess, Mai-chan will do something right."

"Mai-_chan_?" The minister commented languidly as he took a casual sip of the champagne. Gene was clearly not so easily baited. "We're pretty good _friends_," he said and leaned back into his chair comfortably.

"What about your brother?" Lin scowled. "If he does anything to hurt her…" he muttered as Madoka and Gene both grinned at him.

"Don't worry, he won't. If his behaviour today was anything to go by, I'll say he's already fallen for her."

There was another round of toast and Madoka was discreetly refilling Lin's glass when the footman clattered into the room.

"Sir," he said and then paused to mop at his brow. "Sir, it is my duty to inform you…" he swallowed, eyes darting nervously. "The gods help me, but first it was foreign knights and bards and then a dandified mage and now…" he moaned as a silvery figure brushed past him majestically to hover in the air by the table.

"Your footman wants to announce that you've a new guest," it said in a booming voice beneath its venerable white beard.

"Old Black!" Lady Ayako, who had so far been sitting quietly by Takigawa leapt up. The tree spirit stroked its beard solicitously. "I resent that name," he announced. "Especially since I've deigned to come here myself to inform you that the Crown of Albion is in danger." Gene looked stricken.

"My parents – are they?"

"Don't be stupid, boy. I meant your brother. He's been kidnapped by that little cat of a witch; the brown haired freckly one who has been lurking about here for a few days now." He turned to Lin. "As the master of this house and a pleasant enough neighbour, I ought to tell you too that your ward was kidnapped as well, trying to protect the princeling."

There was a short pause, in which the only sound was Lin's glass breaking as he slammed it on the table. "Gentlemen, ladies, I'm afraid the party is over," he said to the hushed room.

"I will go order the carriage and horses," Madoka said briskly. "They'll be ready in five minutes," she said as she got up. "Gene, would you assist me in making up a charm for haste?" The young mage nodded and followed her out of the room.

* * *

Looking down, the Crown Prince of Albion observed that he was back to his usual human form. It didn't need a genius to work out how _that _had happened.

_Flashback_

_Stumbling on a tree root that hadn't been there earlier, Mai fell heads forward onto the frog_.

Naru scowled at that memory. It had been painful, embarrassing on hindsight and it confirmed his suspicions that the woods were probably haunted by possessed trees with match-making tendencies. He would have to remember to make it a point to inform Lin. As he picked himself up shakily from the threadbare carpet, Naru soon deduced that he was in a small cramped and windowless antechamber that had a musty bed frame and a cracked mirror installed by it. A small stream of light filtered in through a grate near the ceiling. The upturned bowl of water showed where Malfina had installed him prior to the spell reversal.

He tried the door. It was unlocked, a fact that fired up all his suspicions. Malfina was malicious, not stupid and he looked round cautiously first. The corridor beyond was deserted except for a few spiders spinning industriously away. As he stepped out, he was disgusted to note that the floor, no not just the floor, but everything was coated in a thick layer of dust. Even the spiders, on close inspection, were coated with a fine smattering of powder. Resisting the urge to sneeze, Naru was about to try the first door when a loud and indignant female voice echoed from through the gloom.

"Let me out you stink of a witch! You have it coming if a – a dozen frogs rained on your head and brained you! What did I do to you eh?" A smile twitched on his lips. _Ah_. So _she _was here too.

* * *

Mai hadn't really expected the enchantress to have heard her, so she was rather surprised when the door to her cell clicked open and swung inwards. "You freckly faced hag! You better look out because when I get out from here you are dead! _Dead_! Do you hear me!" she shouted furiously.

"I hear you." A voice that was decidedly not the enchantress's replied smugly. Silenced by this new turn of events, Mai craned her neck round to see who it was and immediately wished she hadn't.

* * *

Lin's face looked as though it had been set in stone as he was about to climb into the readied carriage. Madoka touched his arm gently.

"We'll sort this out," she said firmly. "She'll be alright."

An anxious crowd had formed outside the mansion gates and Lin sighed as he looked on at the people he had come to consider friends. "It's too dangerous," he said, looking at Gene in particular.

Takigawa folded his arms and looked mutinous.

"We're coming. All of us."

"That's right," a soft voice chimed in and everybody turned to see Princess Masako as she walked up the lane with her bodyguards in tow. "Do you expect that I, the Princess of Nihon should be left out of _anything_?" Her eyes had a mischievous glint in them as Sir John caught up to her, a cloud of woolly white following along purposefully. "And I've brought reinforcements."

* * *

Naru wasn't usually given to blushing, but the thought that he'd been kissed by Mai (or rather, smashed into by Mai) was causing his face to heat up slightly, that and the fact that she was now gaping at him slack-jawed. He raised an eyebrow at her and she gulped before averting her eyes.

"What? Didn't I tell you I happen to have a good complexion?" he demanded haughtily as he wrapped a fallen sheet around himself.

"Gene…?" Mai's amazement was being rapidly replaced by indignation.

"How did you get here?" she demanded furiously and blushingly in turn, "A-and f-find something to wear!"

A mere few seconds in the company of this intruder had been enough to confirm that she hadn't dreamt that the usually cheerful mage had just wandered into the room in his birthday suit.

"I already have."

When Mai looked up again, she rolled her eyes. "That's a bed sheet!"

"It'll have to do while I find something better," he said before smirking at her. "Or would you prefer me naked?"

Mai flushed an even deeper hue and concentrated on trying _not _to think about the well-defined trace of her new companion's shoulder beneath the cloth which he'd wrapped around himself like a Roman senator.

"Err… have you seen Naru?" she asked anxiously.

He gave her an inscrutable look before continuing to rummage through the large closet. "I might have."

Mai frowned at the person before her. There was something not quite right about him. For one thing, he was clearly not meeting her eyes and half-burying himself in the laundry cupboard in search of a clean sheet instead as an excuse. The thing was, he _looked_ exactly like Gene. He even sounded like Gene. His entire demeanour however, was another thing all together, familiar as it was.

"You didn't answer my first question," she said suspiciously.

He gave her a look, and Mai was again struck by how familiar he was. "I suppose it was the same way as you did, which is to say, kidnapped."

"What does she have against you?"

"Is there any particular reason why you think it's _her _who has it in for me? I'm after all, the one who's walking about freely."

The brown haired girl put a finger to her chin. "Oh, I don't know…maybe your attitude of superiority?"

He smirked. "What about yourself? I hardly suppose _you've _been kidnapped because of any positive trait you might possess."

"Er…now that you mentioned it, I _was_ trying to rescue a stupid pet."

"I can't imagine anything else _less _intelligent than you," he shot back in irritation.

"Huh! If you're so smart, then tell me where we are," she challenged with a glint in her eye. To her exasperation, this Gene only smirked at her.

"As a matter of fact, I do. This happens to be the second laundry room of Albion's Royal Palace," he said before frowning slightly as he fingered the thick green vine that poked in from the narrow window. "Though, it seems Malfina has enchanted the entire compound into becoming a forest…"

A loud jangling made him turn back around. Mai rattled her chains again meaningfully.

"Would you mind…I mean…er…helping me?"

He remained standing by the window. "There's something to be said about the rescuer needing to be rescued. Besides, talented as I am, breaking iron with my bare hands is not one of my fortes." Mai glared at him. "You know what? I don't think you are Gene at all."

"Really. I can't imagine what gave me away," he replied sarcastically.

"For one thing, Gene is usually polite. You are rude. For another thing, Gene wouldn't have needed prompting to help out at all. You on the other hand, are so full of yourself that…"

The young man's face hardened. "Shall I get _Gene _to rescue you then?" he shot back coldly.

"You could at least have the decency to tell me your name," she growled. "Instead of pretending to be someone else."

"I did not actually confirm that I was him."

"Jerk."

"Moron."

"Narcissistic prat."

"My name is _Oliver_. I'm Gene's brother," he admitted finally and waited for the proverbial bells to start ringing in the girl's head. After all, they _were _in the palace and it was no secret that the crown princes were twins and good looking ones at that. To his private exasperation, she merely stared blankly back at him.

"Oh," she said politely, vaguely sensing that she _ought_ to be realizing something when she unfortunately didn't have any inkling as to what. "Well, Oliver, how do you suggest getting me off these chains?"

* * *

By a stroke of rare fortune, the King and Queen of Albion had been away visiting a nearby village that had been plagued by a flock of migratory marsh pigeons and their carriage rolled up the same moment that the rescue party had arrived, flock of angry sheep in tow. "The heavens… what has happened here?" The King demanded as he rose majestically out of the vehicle's door. Several of the onlookers shrugged. "Don't know, best ask the King. It's _his_ palace ain't it?" one of them, who still had his pitchfork muttered truculently.

The King stared at the peasant speechlessly. "You…" Then, on catching sight of several familiar faces, he glared at them. "Would _you_ know what happened?"

"Gene!" The Queen rushed out of the carriage on having spotted her son standing within the motley crowd. "Why are you all here?"

The mage grinned ruefully. "Rescuing Noll," he explained. "Malfina's got him."

* * *

**_Author's notes_**: _This chapter got so long I had to split it so that it'll roughly adhere to the other chapter lengths. Anyway, plot's rolling along great. Expect slightly more frequent updates for now =) _


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

Thank you for the reviews. They keep me going so very well. I apologise for not responding to reviews individually but I'm pretty pressed for time this week and I thought it best to get this out asap before my mountain of assignments tumble down on my poor head.

* * *

Ten minutes later, and Oliver had yet to find a way to get Mai out of the shackles. First, they'd examined the heavy metal rings around Mai's wrists and found that not only were they solid, tough looking iron, there was also no keyhole even if there were a lot of arcane looking inscriptions carved all over the length of chain and on the bolt. Then, the sheet which he had wound around himself kept slipping off and Mai would blush and grumble as he rearranged it. Lastly, they had been forced to stand really close together.

Mai tried not to blush again. It was becoming a habit which she would prefer not to acquire. Oliver was leaning right into her as he scrutinized the shackles on her wrist, his fingers running lightly over the minuscule inscription. They were standing so close together that she could actually see the pale shadows of his eyelashes on his skin. _Those blue eyes_, she thought, _I could look at them forever_. "Ouch!" she protested when Oliver yanked on the shackle suddenly.

"Can't you be a bit gentler?" Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Oliver only continued pulling at it.

"It wouldn't have happened if you were concentrating on cooperating instead of staring at me like that," he said.

Mai sniffed disdainfully. "You must get the whole _you're so good looking_ thing all the time. Aren't you sick of it?"

"Not particularly. The least that can be said is that you've good taste," he replied smugly.

Mai rolled her eyes. "Narcissistic jerk," she muttered under her breath and blushed _again_ when Oliver seemed to laugh at her. Though, how she knew she had no idea because there wasn't any change in his smug expression apart from the way his eyes seemed, for a lack of better words, lighter.

"How did you escape?" she asked. "Don't you know any magic that could get me out of here? _Oww_!"

"I wasn't locked up like you are," he explained simply. "Besides, the kind of magic I possess isn't the sort which can be used to get you out."

Mai sagged. "Isn't there anything you can do at all?" she asked plaintively. Oliver looked down at the chains, his black fringe falling untidily over his eyes as he thought. "There is a way," he said at last, reluctance in his voice.

* * *

Malfina tapped her shoe impatiently. The rescue party had arrived far quicker than she had expected them to. Things were _not _going according to plan. First of all, the stupid girl from the mansion had somehow managed to tag along, managing in the process to disrupt her teleportation spell. The palace hadn't been her destination at all. Still, now that she _was _here, Malfina lost no time in fortifying the place. Nothing like striking while the iron was hot after all, and if she was going to take revenge, she might as well go all the way. Secondly, the spell she cast over the startled palace staff had had the mysterious side effect of simultaneously coating _all _the corridors and windows in dust. As the renegade enchantress drew patterns idly on the dust covering the delicate carvings around the throne room (done up in the best Rococo fashion), she was wondering if she had been right to ensure that the girl had been locked up with iron shackles. Like all magical beings that were powerful enough, Malfina had instinctively sensed the strange aura that surrounded Mai.

The prince on the other hand, she barely had had time to install in a room before being summoned by a magically magnified voice. "Malfina!" the voice shrilled into the throne room. "We know _where _you are! Get out here or I _will_ thrash that room with you inside. I have their Majesties' permission."

Ever glamorous, Malfina vanished with only a light _pop_ of displaced air before appearing on the front steps of the palace's main doors. She put a hand on her hip and yawned lazily at the small crowd before her. The only uncertainty she displayed was a brief glance back at the double doors behind her. It was too bad that she had to abandon her plans for the prince now and hope that the creature she had set to watch them would not do its worse before she could get a shot as well.

* * *

"What?" the Queen cried. "How did this happen? Wasn't Noll recuperating at Lady Ayako's?"

"Er…" Most of the party present looked sheepish.

"Sir Takigawa! Your leg! You really shouldn't be walking around like that!" she admonished before turning her eagle gaze on her son's robes.

"You've pierced your ears!" she cried in a scandalized tone suddenly.

Gene ran a hand through his hair. "It was for my initiation ritual," he said. "Mother, are you sure you're alright? Shouldn't you be more concerned that Noll has been…"

The King walked over and steered his wife tenderly to the road side. The Queen sniffed into her handkerchief. "We've only been gone half a day," she sighed. "Koujo, Madoka, you _must_ rescue my son," she said, zeroing in on the most reliable looking of the lot. The Minister for Trade nodded curtly.

"You have our word we'll do our best, your Majesty," he said as Madoka strode forward to meet the brown haired girl who had materialized at the doors.

* * *

"_What do you mean I have to break the chains?_" Mai practically yelled. To her annoyance, the young man remained unmoved. "You are a spell breaker, which means you have the ability to negate magical will as it is manifest in this reality."

"If you don't mind, English please," she ground out irritably.

"Your gift is not stable though, and against a strong spell like that, it might have hardly any effect…" Oliver continued on as if he hadn't heard her. "Start by willing that inscription on the bolt to disappear. It might weaken the spell."

Mai snorted derisively. "I'm _normal_."

"You've used your abilities before." The young man before her looked perfectly serious and Mai stopped laughing.

"I have not."

"You were using them unconsciously then."

"Have you been spying on me? How would you know?"

"Gene told me."

"He never said anything to me," Mai said and looked a little upset. Oliver folded his arms and leaned on the wall next to her.

"Your abilities are latent. You wouldn't even have developed any abilities until there was a need for it." He turned his head slightly to look at her. "Trust me. Focus your mind on the spells that are written on the metal."

Mai sighed and drew a shaky breath before closing her eyes. Professional spell-breakers were rare even as magicians went. And, so far, Mai had had a normal childhood (with the exception of her parents dying, that is). She had normal friends.

"This had better work," she said nervously, her heartbeat suddenly racing. To someone who had more or less led a _normal _life and being abruptly told that she was _not_ felt weird. Then, she felt Oliver slip his hand into hers.

"Now, will the spell to break," he said quietly.

_Get off me, get off me, I don't want to be chained to the wall_, she chanted silently. There was a clink and the shackles fell off. Mai blinked and sank down onto the floor. "I did it," she said weakly.

Oliver stared down at her. Somehow, the makeshift robe he was wearing made him look taller. "We should hurry. I can't think how Malfina hasn't noticed," he said as he helped her up. Mai nodded shakily, still stunned by the recent turn of events.

"I just hope Naru's alright," she mumbled.

* * *

INTERLUDE

It had been dozing when the human boy looked round the door cautiously. He had been looking the other way and it got up slowly on its four paws, careful not to make a sound. _This one_, it could sense, had strong magic and it would be ready to pounce should that boy turn his way, but then a loud voice pierced the air. "Let me out!" the voice had cried indignantly and the boy immediately headed towards her, with not even a glance in its direction. The creature hunkered back down, growling a little. _This other one_, he did not like. There was a feel to everything about her – smell, look and irritating shrill voice that spelled dissembler and banishment into the dark world of chaos from where it had been summoned by his mistress.

The noise died down eventually and it got up, sniffing the air delicately before padding down the corridor after the boy. Great strings of dribble hung from its cavernous mouth where two long tusks protruded through its snout. The creature snuffed at a footprint hungrily. It had been charged with a task, and it would finish it.

* * *

**_Author's notes_**: _If anyone found this chapter and the previous one baffling, rest assured that explanations will come along with the forthcoming chapters. I ask only for your patience. =) I should also warn that the story would probably get a little darker from the overall tone so far. But, nothing like a little darkness before we get the bright light at the end of the tunnel right? _


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

* * *

He seized hold of her hand as they ran out of the room past musty hallways. Mai sneezed. "I hope the palace isn't always this dirty," she muttered as they rounded a corner and up yet another flight of stairs.

Mai screeched at the sight of a pile of bodies that were on the stair well. They were all covered in a layer of the dust that seemed to be everywhere.

"They're just asleep," he said in relief after examining the nearest. He tugged at her hand.

"Come on," he said as they ran further up. By the third flight, Mai was beginning to be apprehensive.

"Are you sure this is the way out? We must have past the ground level already," she said suspiciously.

Oliver took no notice of her; instead, his grip on her hand tightened as they picked up pace. At the end of the corridor he barely paused to open the massive pair of double doors as they ran on through the entrance into a magnificent wing done up in gilt pilasters, miniature paintings, curved and floral stuccos and ornate mirrors.

"Ehhhh! Isn't this the royal family's private wing?" Mai panted as they reached yet another set of doors, this time with the insignia of Albion carved lightly into the grain. She stared at it, wide-eyed.

"Oh, wait! But you can't go in there! Isn't that-this is the prince's rooms!" she sputtered, waving her arms frantically even as she followed him in.

"You can stay outside if you want," was all he said as he made for the large closet in the bedroom.

Mai looked around curiously in spite of herself. The room was more staid in design than the corridor outside had suggested it would be. The bed and desk were both big without being ostentatious and made of the same oak as the floor, while a brass telescope stood on its stand next to the latter. As Mai looked about nervously, as if expecting one or both of the princes to jump out at her, she heard Oliver speaking.

"My gran – I mean, the previous King had an unfortunate penchant for the French Rococo," he said as she walked into the next room, to see him with a pile of clothes in his arms. Mai eyed the bundle disapprovingly.

"That's stealing," she said.

Oliver gave her a strange look. Again, Mai thought, it looked as though he was laughing at her in some private joke and she scowled at him.

"Turn around," he ordered with a smirk as Mai faced the desk sulkily. Then, she felt Oliver move past her into the first room and heard the door slam behind her.

"Jerk," Mai groused. _What was he so shy about suddenly?_ "You can get clothes _after_ we've rescued Naru right," she sighed, shoulders sagging a little.

"What is he to you?" He asked through the door as he shook out his shirt and pulled it on.

"He's a friend, I think." Mai said as she leaned against the wall.

"You aren't sure." It wasn't a question and Mai smiled a little. "We argued a lot. And he's rather mean. But, he did try to protect me when Malfina fired a spell at us in the woods."

"I see," he replied softly. He'd finished dressing and he draped the sheet carefully over a chair. She had been worrying about Naru and he was deliberately withholding his identity. Oliver could almost hear his brother admonishing him. _You're just unwilling to get hurt in case she rejects you. But, how will you ever know if you keep protecting yourself by hiding who you really are?_

Mai wasn't sure, but she thought Oliver sounded disappointed. "I know it's not a very exciting story…" she began when a loud crash came from the outer room. There was a low inhuman growl and then something smashed again, this time right at the door. "What's going on? Open the door!" she yelled, struggling with the knob in vain. There was a click and the door swung open. All Mai got was a vision of a large black _animal_ and that looked as if it was getting ready to pounce again before Oliver shut it hastily. There was a loud thump as the creature rammed against it furiously, snarling for all its worth.

"Get something to hold the door," he panted.

Together, they managed to push a chest of drawers across the entrance.

"What was that?" Mai asked as they both sat down on the floor.

"A hell hound," Oliver answered as he leaned back against the drawers. "They are aggressive if ordered by their summoner to be, but usually they just literally hound people who are close to the end of their life span."

They sat back, listening to the sound of the hound pacing up and down and growling. Mai shivered. There wasn't any other way out that she could see, except for the window opposite. Oliver saw where she was looking. "We are at least five floors from the ground," he pointed out and Mai groaned and buried her face in her knees.

"It's _your_ fault, if you weren't so fussy about that sheet, we would probably be outside already," she complained. Oliver actually smirked.

Mai wanted to hit him.

"I wasn't actually praising you!"

"I know," he said. "But it's fun to watch you get irritated."

"Why you…" Mai shook her head a little. "I want to go home," she mumbled. To her surprise, Oliver pulled her closer.

"Sleep," he said. "We're in for a long night."

"But… what if…" she asked uncertainly. Blue eyes turned their gaze towards her.

"I'll keep watch," he said. Too tired to even consider otherwise, Mai snuggled down beside him, yawning drowsily as she did.

_"I have never seen such power. No human with that sheer…immense ability can possibly ask to survive something like this. Your Majesty, his Highness is very lucky to be alive at all."_

_"Will he be alright then?" The King of Albion asked from where he stood, slightly apart from the anxious knot of people crowding his son's bed. The Old Master pursed his lips. _

_"With plenty of rest, he should be fine. I warned you, years ago when you sent your sons to the school for aptitude testing that such power comes at a cost. Normally, magic is harnessed by the human will on a level that it can manage. His Highness, however, taps on such a large core of magic that his life force is compromised whenever he uses it. The effort he would need in controlling even small spells…" he sighed. "Such talent. It's a pity. His Highness is only capable of great things."_

_"Let me go!"_

_"Young lady, you are already in a lot of trouble. Don't you-_

_The brown haired girl broke free from her minders to dash into the room. _

_"He'll pay. No, they'll both pay! I'm the best! No one, no one is allowed to be better than I am!" she shrieked as the two mages who were with her attempted to drag her out, kicking and screaming._

_"No one is the best," a voice from the bed spoke coldly._

_"Noll," his twin spoke half in admonition and half imploringly. "Let it go."_

_"She tried to kill you," Naru snapped from the bed. "How am I supposed to let that go?" _

_His brother, smothered in a bathrobe, swamped in fluffy towels and still slightly damp from the lake fell silent. _

_"There is no merit in your being the best if you'll rather kill the competition than up your game," he said flatly. Malfina's face twisted angrily. _

_"When we meet again, we'll see," she hissed as the prince stared at her icily until the door clicked shut. Gene eyed his brother uneasily. _

_"She'll be back," he said. "This isn't over."_

Mai was awoken by a loud thump. Something was digging into her back and she groaned. Reaching back, she found herself touching something smooth and cold and she rubbed her eye blearily. Then, there was another loud bang and one of the drawers slipped from its holder, upending a pile of what looked like a collection of royal pajamas onto her.

"Oof!"

As Mai peeled off one that had fallen over her head in sleepy confusion, she felt hands shaking her.

"Mai, get up, it's brought reinforcements," Oliver said, hauling her up from her spot on the floor. As he did so, she thought she caught a whiff of a familiar scent coming from the pajamas.

"Huh...? Wha? Naru? Where are we?" she mumbled dimly. There had been a dream…

_Thump_.The chest of drawers wobbled dangerously and she squeaked, jumping up suddenly and nearly knocking into Oliver who glared at her in a mixture of exasperation and amusement.

"Oh… it's _you_…"

The room was bathed in the red glow of dusk and long shadows of the vines creeping outside the window were printed on the wall opposite. "How long was I asleep?"

"About two hours."

A loud howl from beyond the door turned their attention back to the hound and Mai clutched Oliver's elbow. The sound was not like that of any living animal's she knew and she shuddered. "Stay behind me," he ordered as splinter lines appeared in the door.

With an almighty crack, the door shattered. The drawers were knocked aside as the hound stepped into the room, its eyes narrowed into red slits. To their dismay, it was followed by a second, which clambered up onto the drawers. With a snarl, it pounced forwards. Mai squeezed shut her eyes. _They were going to die_. Then, she felt Oliver move. There was a sound like a whip crack and something falling with a sickening crunch on the floor.

"Mai." She looked up, startled. The hound was lying on its side, winded and the other was sniffing at it. "Did – did you do that?" she asked, awed. Oliver did not waste time replying.

"When I count to three, run to the door." Still holding on to him, Mai shook her head.

"I can't…"

"They won't hurt you," he said. "The only reason they haven't attacked till night is your anti-magic."

"That's not it," she whispered under her breath. Some instinct told her that leaving her new companion alone would be a bad idea. But then, the hound flung its head back to howl in anguish and she took a step back uncertainly. He nudged her forward.

"Didn't you say you wanted to rescue your friend?"

"But…"

"There's no time," he snapped as the fallen creature climbed to its feet and they both circled closer again. "_Now go_," he said, shoving her towards the door as the creatures leapt towards them as one.

* * *

**_Author's notes_**: Alright, this chapter just departed from humour to downright drama. I promise the next chapter would be funnier, for those of you who enjoy the humour of this fic.

_Azamiko, ButterflyBlossoms, Sweet Mai-chan, witchhuntress: Thank you very much for your review. Glad to see you all enjoying it! _

_miss koneko: wow. There's no better encouragement than to hear people re-reading your work. Thanl you! I hope you like this chapter as much too._

_LaiChan: Ah, who knows. *grins* _

_FallenRaindrops: At the rate I'm going, it looks as though I might be pushing another five chappies. We'll see though, as it's rather nice to end with a round number of chapters too. Take it as me being weird that way =p_

_Ariana Taniyama: Thank you! The first of the mountains was overcome with a lot of frantic typing and not enough sleep. I hope you enjoyed the Mai/Naru interaction here too. It's weird, because I never imagined that I'll have such a hard time writing my fav couple... XD_

_Jillian Rachel: Thanks for replying. Yeah, the dark turn was unexpected (even for me). I'm hoping to swing it back to light-hearted soon myself._

_krisaku: yup. She isn't. you might want to go back to read chap 8 if you haven't =)_


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

* * *

The late afternoon sun cast its golden light over the bright pastures of Albion. It was truly a glorious late spring day and birds chirped, the brooks ran merrily and bees hummed as they went about their task of collecting honey. A stray beam of ruby red light skimmed the surface of the brook, narrowly missed a flock of bluebirds and the hive of bees before descending on the crowd of curious onlookers, which fled for safer ground.

"Madoka! _Would _you watch where you're aiming your spells!" Ayako yelled as another beam streaked past her, singeing the tree behind.

"Ah! My bad!" the enchantress said blithely, not in fact sounding apologetic at all. The healer shook her head.

"This is going nowhere," she grumbled to Lin, who just sighed heavily.

The two enchantresses were firing all sorts of spells at each other, not caring who, where or what they were hitting. Already, the palace grounds were pockmarked with bits of bare ground that were still smoking faintly. And, whatever remained of the turf was faring no better as it was being rapidly trodden flat by the rampant sheep, which were attacking the thick vines encircling the palace walls as if they were their worst enemy. John came running round the corner.

"Princess Masako has found an entrance. The sheep are almost done eating their way through," he gasped before dashing back the way he came.

Too engrossed in their battle, neither enchantress observed the small party of rescuers dart round to the side entrance.

"Your Majesties. I would strongly advice that you retire to somewhere safer for now," Lin said. He paused to consider Takigawa's bandaged foot as well.

"Sir Takigawa, it seems we would have to trouble you with looking after their Masjesties. You'll only be a hindrance in your current state."

For a while, it looked as though the tutor would protest, but a look from Ayako quelled him. As they reluctantly drew aside with Takigawa still grumbling under his breath about tyrannical healers, the rest of them poured through the narrow entrance into the bowels of the castle.

The remaining three of them stood watching as vines regenerated over the door, sealing it completely shut. The sheep that had been standing triumphantly to the side bleated indignantly at the loss of their good work.

"So that's that, then." With one last look back at the eeriely silent palace, they retreated towards the town.

***

Somebody sneezed.

_Shhhh_!

"I'm sorry," John said sheepishly. "It's kinda dusty in' here'."

"Excuse me, that's your elbow in my ribs," Masako complained at Yasuhara.

"Oh, sorry," he said and promptly poked Gene on the back of his head as they all fought to keep their balance in the tiny area

"Does anyone have the key – what _is_ this place anyway?" Ayako panted.

"I think it's a guard post," John remarked and ducked as Gene's arm groped blindly past his face to reach for the key hanging off the wall. Then, there was a loud click and the door swung open suddenly.

"We should split into two teams," Lin suggested as soon as they had dusted themselves. Gene nodded in agreement.

"I think, given the situation, each team should have a magic user or someone who knows how to defend against them."

He looked at Sir John and the princess. Masako stepped forward.

"I know some basic warding and healing spells, but I'm better at sensing magic than countering them."

"What about you Sir John? Are you up to protecting Lady Masako?"

"You can count on me," John said, his mouth set in a grim line.

Lin nodded. "Then, I think it's settled. Masako-hime, you, John and Yasuhara will make a team. Gene and Ayako, you're with me," he announced. "Yasuhara, would you please start with the lower levels and the servants' quarters? We'll start with the upper floors and work down."

***

_One hour later…_

"You're lost aren't you?"

Yasuhara continued to smile cheerfully as he adjusted his glasses.

"Of course not," he said as they came face to face with another dead end. Masako and John looked at each other and then back at the irate spirit that was tailing them.

"If you know he's getting us lost, why don't you lead instead?" Masako asked. Old Black snorted.

"You'll just get more lost," he retorted disdainfully.

"Not to worry, I know where we are exactly," Yasuhara announced. Masako pursed her lips in displeasure.

"And where would that be?"

His glasses flashed in the gloom. "Why, in front of this wall of course," he said triumphantly.

"That…wasn't very funny," John sighed. "I agree," Masako said. "We should leave him behind."

Old Black grinned maliciously.

"I should put a hex on you so you can't move from this spot," he said with a leer at the university student who cringed in mock terror.

"But what would Lin say?" he asked, eyes wobbling with crocodile tears as they turned back the way they came.

"He'll probably say 'good riddance'," Masako murmured behind her sleeve.

"I heard that," Yasuhara whispered directly into her ear from behind, causing the girl to twitch. She glared at him.

"You're wasting time walking in circles," Old Black commented. "I suggest you all move out of this corridor some time soon. There's a bespelled gargoyle standing guard on the other end. It's pretty stupid, but even it'll notice you with the kind of ruckus you're producing."

With a mock bow in their direction, the ghost floated away through the wall. "Amateurs…" they heard him mutter. "If _Arthur_ was here, he'll have given them beasties all a good hiding instead of sneaking about."

"Who exactly did he say he was again?" Yasuhara whispered. Sir John shrugged bemusedly.

By this time, given the sheep, the magical abductions, and randomness of the group he was in, mysterious spirits who had taken to following them out of the blue seemed hardly stunning in comparison. "Old Black, that's what Lady Ayako called him."

The student tilted his head thoughtfully. "Really? Never heard of him… perhaps we had better be on our way too then…"

A loud scream pierced the gloom.

"That sounded like Mai," John said anxiously. Without another word, the three of them immediately ran towards it.

***

_Naru_. Why had she called out that name when her dream had been about Oliver? And, why on earth should she even be dreaming about _him_ in the first place. She slapped her own face twice.

"Concentrate, Mai. Now's not the time to be daydreaming." _Especially dreams of random strangers as princes_.

The corridors with their dizzying rows of painted scenery and statues were all starting to look the same. She paused. Hadn't she passed the marble bust of Merlin once before already? As she hovered uncertainly, there was a loud crash and a hell hound leapt down from the stairs directly in front of her.

Swallowing nervously, Mai took a step backwards. The creature looked injured, but that was hardly comforting since it was blocking the only exit. Looking around, Mai didn't see anything that could be of use for defense – except perhaps the marble bust. What had Oliver said – that her latent spell breaker abilities kept them at bay. Evidently that wasn't going to work now because it was padding directly towards her, the wide gash on its side oozing dark blood. She squeezed her eyes shut and _willed_ as she did earlier. Nothing happened.

"Argh!" she yelled, stomping in frustration and panic as the creature paced closer. It was clearly still wary but there was nothing stopping it from using its sheer brute strength to rip her to pieces while she stood helpless as she worked out how to use her skills.

"Honestly girl. Can't you protect yourself?"

Wheeling round at the source of the voice, Mai found herself looking up just in time to see the silvery spectre of an elderly man with a long flowing beard and star spangled robes floating out of a patch of empty wall. She screamed.

"Mind where you drop that bust, it was expensive," the spirit warned sharply. Mai gulped and placed the statue back on its pedestal with a guilty look. The hound snarled, hackles raised at the spirit. Old Black fixed it with a stern glare.

"Get you hence, hound of brimstone and fire! Your kind are not welcome here." With a startled whine, the creature jolted as if stung. Then, it darted back the way it came, tail between its legs.

"There. Did you see how that was done, girl? You should practice if you want to survive in here," the spirit said with an air of self-satisfaction.

Mai blinked. The sense of being repeatedly hit by déjà vu was getting too much to bear.

"Have we met before too?" she demanded.

To her annoyance, the spirit merely smirked. "Oh, we've been neighbours for some time now. I'm impressed you even recognize my aura given how many times you've gotten lost in my woods," he said smugly.

She narrowed her eyes. Woods? Honestly, why was she always running into insufferable magical types who _wouldn't explain anything_? He extended a pearly hand to her.

"Shall we? I believe a young princeling would need your help some time soon."

She stopped in her tracks. Prince? She looked up at him, wide eyed. "You mean Oliver and Gene are…" she began slowly. The spirit raised an eyebrow. "You already know don't you?"

When Mai continued to stare at him, realization dawning on her face, he floated on ahead.

"Hurry up. And next time, pay attention when you're dreaming."

***

By the time the rescue party arrived at the scene, all they saw was an empty corridor. "Strange… I am sure the scream came from somewhere around here," John said.

"Look." Yasuhara gestured at where he was kneeling on the floor. "There's blood."

Masako clutched her nose, trying not to breathe in deeply. "There was magic used here. And," she caught her breath sharply, "something with a very nasty aura is close by."

"Stay close," John ordered.

Not a moment later, a shape detached itself from the shadows on the ground, solidifying into the hell hound. It padded towards them, eyes blazing. John drew his sword as Masako and Yasuhara stepped back. The dog stopped. It gave them a measuring look. _No, it's not them. She's gone back up. Intercept the girl before she meets the others_. Malfina's disembodied voice rang through the room. With a soft whine, the dog darted out, the three of them in pursuit.

* * *

**_Author's notes_**: Update came earlier than I thought - thanks mostly to your very encouraging reviews and because I hadn't realised that I had already written that much. Still, not much main action this chapter. Mai connecting some of the dots finally - though not all of them. That'll probably happen in the next chapter. Hopefully, after this fortnight, I'll have a bit more time to write a good one for that.

_Azamiko, miss koneko, Kafira-chan, ScreamsOnScreen, 'Heaven's Pearl', __Jillian Rachel, Anna, Ariana Taniyama, krisaku: _Thank you very much for your great reviews!

_LaiChan: Haha. I renounce responsibility! Blame it on the characters for being so charming in the 1st place. And no, why would that induce me to delay the chapter? Besides, it's early this time in spite of my announcing on my profile tht it'll only be out in Nov_

_FallenRaindrops: TWENTY more chapters! O_O That would make a sequel wouldn't that?! *clutches head in horror*_

_JustJanelle: Why thank you! I'm deeply honoured that you think A Froggy Tale is one of the best fics in the archive. I can only hope that I will continue to work on and improve my writing._

_Toyama-chan: knife and saw coming your way again. haha. my apologies._


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

* * *

He ducked as the telescope smashed on the wall above him. The hound snarled as bits of metal and glass flew in all directions.

It had been a nice telescope.

He'd repaired it himself after buying it off a trader who had been to the palace and now… Naru scowled. This was the problem with picking a fight in one's own rooms. Things inevitably got broken indiscriminately. The hell hound snarled when he flung another bolt of magic at it. It missed, and hit the rather ugly painting his mother had hung on the wall behind it. The creature leapt forward. Instinctively, he sent the chest of drawers whizzing towards the hound. There wasn't even time for it to react when the heavy oak furniture slammed into it with a sickening crunch. The creature twitched once and then was still.

Naru stood up, and crossed the room to where his chair lay upturned on the floor. He righted it and sat down, blinking when he realized that his right hand was shaking. Controlling his abilities had always been difficult but this time had been harder. In a moment of distraction, he had let one of the two hounds escape. His heart twisted with a fear he hadn't felt since the lake two years ago. Mai was out there, alone, and with no idea how her abilities worked and the hound after her. He strode out of the door, glass and rubble crunching underfoot as he did. His room would need to be renovated _again_.

* * *

"Rock! Scissors! Paper!"

"Not fair! You cheated!" Malfina shrieked and stamped her foot. The crowd booed. Madoka blinked, the picture of absolute innocence.

"Who, me?"

"Yes! You little piece-

"Mind your language young lady. There are children in the audience," the enchantress warned, wagging her finger at the irate girl in front of her. Malfina glared.

"I don't believe you could have won so many rounds in a row without doing anything! Once more!"

"Rock, scissors, paper!"

"Ahaha! I win again! Scissors beats paper!" Madoka said, clapping her hands in delight before turning and bowing to the audience who cheered enthusiastically.

Takigawa sighed. "Are you certain this woman is sane?" he asked no one in particular.

"From what I heard, _you_ were the one who instigated Mistress Madoka to enchant my son. His current shape happens to be _your_ fault," the Queen retorted sweetly.

Clearly, the princes had inherited their vindictive streak of reminding people of their faults from their mother. Takigawa shook his head. Night had fallen and an early moon was rising. He looked anxiously towards the castle. The rooms within remained a gloomy black, unlit. _What _was going on in there? He got an answer however, as anguished howls filled the air before being cut off suddenly. Takigawa shivered. If even _he_ could feel the ripples of magic lapping the air, it had to be an inordinate amount of power that had been let loose. The King and Queen stood up hastily, anxiety written clearly on their faces.

"No!" Madoka rushed over and stood in front of them. "I understand your concern, but you must not put yourselves in danger. I will go." Without another word, she vanished on the spot.

Malfina was left standing by herself on the smoking, pothole-ridden lawn.

"I suppose, dear, you've won the last round, since Madoka forfeited," the Queen informed the enchantress. Malfina shot her an incensed look before she disappeared as well.

* * *

"Honestly, after getting you two to kiss I'd thought you would be able to recognize _him _for who he is," the spirit grumbled as they trudged along a corridor. "And, honestly, I'm surprised you still _haven't_."

"I did not _kiss_ anybody, he _landed_ on my face," Mai muttered, involuntarily blushing. The spirit raised an eyebrow.

"You're blushing," he pointed out as they jogged across a large room to the stairs. "You like him."

"I don't!"

"Yes, you do."

Something, or rather someone appeared directly in front of her. "Madoka!" Mai cried in surprise.

"Look out!"

Someone holding a large sword brushed past them, and knocked her out of the way. There was a dull flash of silver as the sword connected with the hound's flesh, which smoked and hissed. Mai screamed as John was knocked aside by the hell hound as it stumbled about blindly. Was it her imagination, but had the creature grown bigger? She watched as it staggered forward a few steps before collapsing.

"If you're wondering whether the hound has gotten larger, it has. Hell hounds manifest their true forms after dark," Oliver remarked, breathing a sigh of relief now that the second hound no longer posed a threat.

Blinking in the semi gloom, Mai glowered at the prince as he came down the stairs. "If I wanted a lesson in zoology, I would have asked," she muttered as he extended a hand to her. Madoka was gawping at him as if she hadn't seen him before. "Er" Mai said uncertainly, "this is _Prince _Oliver." Oliver merely raised an eyebrow at her.

"I know," Madoka said vaguely as John sat up with groan, aided by a concerned Masako. "So, when did you kiss Naru?"

"Huh?" Mai said intelligently.

"_Madoka_!" Oliver growled.

"Sorry to break up the party," Yasuhara broke in abruptly and pointed at the doorway meaningfully. "Someone's looking for you, Your Highness." They all turned to the entrance of the hall.

It was Malfina.

"It seems my hounds lost to you, Oliver."

"Only one of them," he answered conversationally. "Sir John killed the other one."

She smiled. "I've been looking forward to this duel for two years. Shall we?" She stepped forward with a gesture of invitation. The very air around them seemed to thicken and Mai could have sworn she saw sparks fly. (_Angry_ sparks mind you). Madoka carefully hustled the others out of the way as Naru moved forward.

When Ayako, Gene and Lin burst in, the battle had already started. "No!" Lin barked as he yanked the mage back. Gene glared at him. "You cannot," the taller man said more gently this time. "Albion needs you."

"They need Noll too," Gene replied shortly as he straightened his robes. "Gentlemen…" Ayako warned sharply. Against all odds, the hound had gotten back up, the wound inflicted by John's sword rapidly healing.

Mai gulped. Oliver hadn't noticed the hound yet and her heart skipped a beat. Looking around, she saw that John's sword was still lying on the ground, less than five meters from her. Masako saw where she was looking though. "No, Mai!" she screamed as the brown-haired girl dashed past Gene and Lin, made the short dash for the weapon and towards the hound. The sword seemed to sing in her hand, her fingers and wrist seemed to move on their own, the anti-magic runes on the blade blazing like cold stars. She swung it mightily like a bat.

_Crack_.

The impact sent Mai flying towards the magical combatants. Oliver and Malfina both froze, startled but there was little time for either of them to react as girl and hound cannoned right into the middle of the battle. There was a loud crash as they all fell into the ground in an unconscious heap.

"_Mai_!" Lin shouted. There was no holding them back now as they all rushed forward. This was not happening.

"I didn't know the sword could do that," John mumbled, still a trifle woozily. Gene shivered.

"Its anti-magic properties must have somehow resonated with Mai's spellbreaker skill." Lin looked up at that.

"The gods help us… of all the times, _why_ now?" Madoka muttered as she and Lin helped pull the unconscious girl from the floor.

"What happened?" Yasuhara asked anxiously. "One minute their auras were so bright and the next… it's like they got switched off."

"They did," Old Black rumbled. "That girl hasn't learned to control her powers yet."

"Will they be alright?"

Eyes in varying degrees of concern and exhaustion turned to the spirit expectantly. He only shrugged.

"Who knows? I've not seen anything like this before either. At any rate, we'll find out after they wake up," he said finally.

* * *

**_Author's notes_**: Chapter 19 is almost done, so expect that soon too! After that, it'll just be one last chapter left. Wow. We _are _nearing the end.

_LunaxXmoongoddessxX, Kaykit, witchhuntress, FallenRaindrops, LaiChan, krisaku: Thank you very much for your reviews! =D_

_Azamiko: A bit too intelligent and pompous for a tree spirit isn't he? Haha. ;) I think I got him to remininisce about his past somewhere... can't remember where though. XD_

_Ariana Taniyama: Haha. Yeah! Sheeeeep~ Old Black... I can't believe I even incorporated him into this fic. OCs just keep creeping in. Heh heh._

_Toyama-chan: Thanks very much for pointing out that major flaw in the previous chapter! (facepalms) Really appreciate it! I imagine that hell hounds would probably be a lot more effective enemies at night, being in their element and all that. Mai's abilities are a little "off" in that she's still new and lousy at consciously controlling them_


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

* * *

Where was this place? Mai looked about uncertainly. On both sides, rose bushes formed an impenetrable wall of thorns and heavy-scented blooms. Mai reached out a hand to touch it before pulling back with a wince, a bead of her blood glistening on a thorn. She looked back. Roses stretched both ways.

"Excuse me, you're blocking my way," a voice said coldly. Mai looked about. "Down here," he said.

"_Naru_?!"

The little amphibian gave an impatient sigh when she didn't move and began hopping round the edge of her muddy skirt instead. "Be that as it may, we ought to go find what you're looking for."

"But," Mai objected, "I'm not looking for anything."

A sly look crossed Naru's face. "Really? I would have thought you're looking for Prince Oliver."

"He's back at the _palace_."

"Then," the frog gestured with a jerk of his head, "who is that lying on that slab there?" There was a prone figure perched on the rock that looked awfully familiar.

"Oliver!"

She rushed forward. He was lying on his back, eyes closed, arms folded neatly over his chest while rose vines twisted all over him. Naru had hopped over and looked on with interest as Mai struggled to get the vines that bound Oliver to the rock.

"Good looking person isn't he?" he said with just the barest hint of smugness. Ignoring him, Mai shook the prince wincing as did as the thorns tore at her hands.

"You better hurry," the frog continued calmly. "If I'm correct, and I usually am, that looks like Malfina coming this way, and she doesn't look happy."

The enchantress stomped up, looking decidedly sulky. She dumped an evil looking knife on the slab and shoving aside some of the thorny vines that were clinging artistically to the edge, she sat by Oliver, folding her arms as she did. "It seems my revenge is in ruins. I might as well tell you the rules of the test then."

"What test?" Mai asked bewildered. Malfina pulled at a lock of brown hair absently.

"Why, the test which _his_ life hangs in the balance," she said with an irritated toss of her head in the direction of the prince. "The rules are simple, given that after all, this _is _your dream. The gods forbid that we're stuck in _his _twisted world."

"I'm dreaming?" Mai looked about.

"Yes, you fool. _You_ brought the three of us here."

"_Four_ of us," Naru corrected automatically.

"I did that to Oliver?" Mai cried in horror. Malfina sighed. "Yes, and also no. It's complicated. When you grabbed Oliver in the middle of the duel, you must have cancelled out his connection to magic. The strain must have been too much given how much power he uses every time."

Naru blinked his copper eyes. "Really? You can do that?" he asked Mai who hastily clamped a hand over his mouth. "Mmpf!"

Malfina stopped fingering her hair and frowned at her. "What _are _you doing?"

"Eh? You can't see...?"

"She can't sense me!" Naru piped up from between Mai's fingers.

"Er…nothing! Fingers itchy, that's all. Heh heh." Mai stuttered nervously. Malfina looked skeptical.

"Right, now if I may begin to explain the rules.

"There are three tasks. Complete them successfully and both of you go free." She gestured at the ebony knife. "However, if you lose, Oliver's heart will be forfeit to me." The little frog shivered.

"Shall we begin?"

With a bored look on her face, Malfina materialized a silver bow in her hand. "The first task," she said as she handed the bow to Mai, "is to shoot that apple off that tree." Mai swallowed nervously. Archery was a spot which only the very privileged indulged in. Naru-the-frog looked her in consternation.

"Don't tell me you've never shot before," he said.

"Shut up," she muttered through her teeth. "It's not my fault if I wasn't born a noble."

As she drew the string back nervously, Naru made an impatient sound.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"Your aim is off," he whispered back. "My _life_ is in your hands. Would you be serious about this?"

"I am!"

"Why do you keep talking to yourself?" Malfina demanded in irritation. Gulping, Mai closed her eyes.

"Don't shut your eyes!" the frog yelped as she let loose the arrow. There was a _thwack_ and an apple joined them at the foot of the tree.

"Yes!" Mai pumped the air triumphantly.

"Very good," Malfina commented, though her expression said otherwise. "The first was a test of will. Now, the second test is a test of courage." Malfina strode to the edge of the maze where whispering voices shook the air. Mai blanched.

"I have to go in there?!!" The enchantress's eyes gleamed.

"A test of courage isn't complete without ghosts. Come out unscathed in a quarter of an hour and you would have passed."

Mai looked about nervously. The rose hedges crowded in on both sides and she could have sworn that it was the flowers that were muttering to themselves. In a less pressing time, she might have found them amusing but now their whisperings only seemed sinister. Something cold tapped her foot. _Ahhhh_!

"It's _me_," Naru said drily. Mai was about to point out that one should not sneak up on others during a test of courage when a wispy figure glided past her. She squeaked and ran all the way down the path, Naru barely clinging on.

"Slow down! You're supposed to just stand in here for fifteen minutes!"

"The _flowers_ are talking! And a banshee just walked – if you can call floating with your feet not on the ground walking – past me!"

Naru remained indifferent. "It's probably harmless if you stay on the path" he said and patted her ankle comfortingly. A glowing wisp drifted by. Mai flinched.

"T-Talk to me! I'll go mad if I don't have anything to distract me."

"What do you want to hear?"

"Anything!"

"If I just had a tea I could probably sit here by you all day."

"Can you not remind me of where we are?"

Naru smirked. "When he wakes up, you should get Oliver to tell you about the time he went undercover in the girl's dormitory to find out which of them tried to feed him love potions."

Despite the eerie voices and the occasional ghostly manifestation, Mai couldn't help smiling into the darkness.

You know something, Naru? You're behaving differently from usual."

"Hmm?"

"You're being nicer. A _lot_ chattier, but definitely nicer."

"Prince Oliver does have a caring heart you know."

"I'm talking about _you_." She looked at him pensively. "It's unlike you to praise someone else." The frog gave her that sideways look again.

"What makes you think I am?"

A nagging suspicion was beginning to form in Mai's head. But, before she could answer, a bell chimed in the distance. "Time's up," Naru said as he began hopping back the way they came. "You better not mess the last one up."

Malfina was waiting. She did not look pleased at all.

"I see you made it through."

Mai nodded curtly. "So, what is the last thing I've to do?"

"This," the renegade enchantress said and swept her hand dramatically around. "Oliver's heart is one of the things in this maze. You have five minutes to identify it."

"What?" Mai looked about anxiously. "How would I know?" She looked about for her informal "advisor". Naru blinked copper coloured eyes at her solemnly. There wasn't anything that looked remotely heart-shaped. The slab which Oliver was lying on was a plain, crudely carved rock which didn't look like it contained anything like that. Was it one of the trees that ringed the maze? One of the roses perhaps. It would hardly surprise her if it was; it would just be the sort of twisted thing someone like Malfina would do.

"Three minutes."

She looked desperately at Naru who looked away. He wasn't making snide comments anymore and he held himself stiffly, as if waiting. _Why doesn't he say anything_?

"Umm, is it one of the roses?"

"Two minutes." Malfina shrugged.

_What was it_? She spun round wildly. "The oak tree?"

Malfina smirked. "One minute." Time was running out.

"Is it inside Oliver?"

"Of course not," Malfina yawned as she polished her nails on her sleeve. "Thirty seconds."

Her eyes swept round the place. None of the things remotely felt like Oliver. The scent of roses was overpowering and she was developing a headache. "Ten…nine…eight…"

Her gaze met Naru's in desperation. Golden-copper eyes stared back reluctantly and he sighed wistfully. _Could it be_? Her own eyes widened. It wasn't really a long shot when she thought about it, though when Oliver woke up he would hardly be pleased that his own unconscious had taken things into his own hands – er – webbed feet.

"Is it… _Naru_?"

"About time you guessed. I had high hopes that you're really more intelligent than you looked." Naru replied shortly. Mai snorted. Definitely the same person – they, no _he_ even teased her the same way.

"So, what happens now?"

Malfina had begun moving towards the stone slab. "Who knows," she said her eyes fixed at a point just beside Oliver's shoulder. Naru eyed her warily from his perch by Oliver. Mai had made a grab for her when something dug painfully into her ankle. Gasping, she looked down to see that a thorny vine had curled round her foot. To her horror, more of them were slithering forward like so many snakes.

"Naru! Run! She can see you!"

The frog threw her a concerned look before disappearing into the maze. Malfina's face was livid with anger.

"You dirty little girl. How _dare _you!" She snatched up the knife and brandished it at Mai. "I will _kill_ you." She grabbed Mai's neck.

"Do you think I hadn't had this planned? Too bad that you guessed correctly. If you hadn't, you might have gotten out of this alive."

Mai glared at her. She wasn't going to give the other girl the satisfaction of seeing her frightened. "You couldn't see Naru so you made use of me to break the spell so that you can. He isn't _stupid_. He'll escape. Give it up."

The enchantress's knuckles tightened its grip and Mai grimaced. "I'm _this_ close to getting my revenge and you're telling me I can't win?" Her knuckles were turning white. "If you have any last words," she said venomously, "you better spit them out now."

Mai coughed weakly.

"Behind you…"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Someone tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around, the last thing Malfina saw was Oliver's impassive gaze before he sucker punched her squarely between the eyes.

"_Naru_!" Mai protested when the enchantress collapsed on the ground with a thud reminiscent of a potato sack being dropped.

"She deserved it," he said and then looked at her measuringly. "What did you just call me?"

She rubbed her neck, wincing at the bruises as she tried to stand up. Naru was immediately by her side, holding her up when her knees threatened to fail her. "That witch," she heard him say as he turned her hand over carefully to examine the cuts on it, "When we get back home I will ki-

"Don't say it," Mai whispered hoarsely. Her throat was killing her. "That sounds like the sort of thing Malfina would say, not you."

He looked down at her, the hard look in his eyes vanishing. "She did this to you and you're defending her?"

To her consternation, Naru chuckled.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked, alarmed that the strain might have made him loopy.

"No reason," he said smugly before scooping her up bridal style. "Time we got back..."

* * *

**_Author's notes_**: This is it people! The next one will be the final chapter!!! I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I did. I honestly hadn't planned for such a long drawn out fic but this just goes to prove that stories have a life of their own. Thank you very much for being such lovely and encouraging readers and reviewers.

_Thanks to Azamiko, Jillian Rachel, Ariana Taniyama, krisaku, emmarick, meri47, silverchildakami for the reviews! They are much loved!_


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

_Thanks to Toyama-chan, christal, Tbonechick2011, meri47, withchuntress, Kaykit, krisaku, Ariana Tamiyama, Ayjah, silverchildakami, Azamiko, miss koneko, LunaxXmoongoddessxX, yellowmoon27, Jillian Rachel for the lovely reviews!_

_This one is for all who've reviewed, past and present. Enjoy!_

* * *

On waking up, Mai found herself lying on a large white bed. The white curtains were fluttering in the soft breeze at the open window which looked out to the branches of a tall tree and the wide blue sky. She sighed contentedly.

"Good morning. I see you're up."

The door swung open noiselessly to admit a dark-haired blue-eyed prince. She smiled sleepily. "Naru? Oh wait," she said after squinting at him for a moment while half-sitting up and yawning. "Hello Gene. You've cut your hair."

The young mage grinned. "You're getting pretty good at telling us apart aren't you," he said as he went to sit by her bed. "Thank you for everything," he said and touched his lips to her bandaged hand. Mai flushed.

"Flirt," she replied and smiled. "Where's Naru? Is he alright? What about everybody else?"

"They're all fine. The first thing Naru said after regaining consciousness last night was where his tea was. Then, he barged into your room and wouldn't leave until we made him have breakfast not half an hour ago."

Gene regarded her with amusement. "You probably didn't notice because you were out cold but he wouldn't let go of your hand," he added.

"I-I might have remembered something like that," she said, feeling her cheeks burn. There were more footsteps outside the room and Mai could hear the deep bass tone of her guardian's voice through the door.

"Mai? Are you up? Can we come in?"

The door opened again. "Lin-san! Madoka-san!" she said greeting them brightly. As Madoka fussed over her pillows, Lin smiled wanly at her.

"Promise me you won't ever jump into battle like that again."

To his surprise, she reached over and hugged him warmly. "I'll try not to," she said feeling suddenly watery-eyed when he ruffled her hair fondly. "We _really_ need to work out this whole guardian thing don't we?"

Madoka beamed at the two of them. "It's nice to see you up. You really had us worried. Even Naru, who is usually a bigger idiot than you are had woke up already."

"That's right," a fourth voice chimed in.

The Countess and Sir Takigawa were at the door along with Masako and John. Ayako who had spoken, bent down to inspect her. "Next time, leave the heroing to the men. Their egos need it more," she said as she felt her forehead. Takigawa rolled his eyes. Satisfied that there was nothing physically wrong with the girl, Ayako straightened herself. "At least you look good and you've your colour back. How do you feel?"

A loud rumbling from the region of Mai's middle answered for her. "Ehehehe. I don't think I've eaten since…?"

"Two days ago. You were asleep the whole of yesterday," Ayako replied crisply as she drew back the curtains.

"Do you want something in bed?"

Mai shook her head. "I think I would like a walk by myself," she replied shyly.

Gene winked at her. "The observatory is just down the corridor and up the stairs at the end."

* * *

The Royal Palace's observatory was considerably larger than the one at Lin's and an elaborate brass and steel telescope jutted out of a gap in the dome-shaped roof. A mechanical whirr of cogs and wheels hummed quietly in the background as she paced about the empty room. Then she spotted the partially opened trapdoor. It was cold outside and a wind snapped and tugged at her nightdress and shawl.

"Ah, it is the girling."

Looking around, she spotted Old Black was floating beside Naru and looking for once, not grumpy or irritable but benign. Naru was leaning against the ledge, a tea cup in hand and for the first time since they had met, fully dressed and groomed. Coming face to face with Naru, she found herself suddenly tense in a way she hadn't been around Gene or the others. _How strange_, she thought, _especially when they look so alike_.

"Gene told me you were coming up here," he said and then lapsed back into silence. They looked at each other. Mai tucked her windswept hair behind her nervously.

"Back in the woods, you asked me if this was a fairy tale." Naru blinked once and the nodded. "And then – Malfina appeared," she continued, a little desperately. Again, Naru nodded. "And then, you-you _jumped_ at me and –

Old Black snorted in an eerie imitation of Lady Ayako. "Rubbish. I saw you kiss him. Don't deny it, girl." Mai rounded on the ghostly figure.

"So you admit to tripping me!" she grumbled.

The spirit blinked innocently. "What? So you _did _kiss him," he replied somewhat self-righteously.

As Mai's face oscillated between red and purple, she heard a quiet laugh beside her. Still chuckling softly, Naru spoke up. "I suppose I ought to make up for that now," he murmured as he crossed the space between them.

Suddenly, the roof seemed to have gotten a lot smaller. Mai looked down at her feet, fingers twinning nervously.

"Umm."

Naru cleared his throat pointedly. "Lord Merlin. Do me a favour and tell those currently listening in to leave. My _private _observatory is _not _some outdoor tavern."

"_Merlin_?!" Mai rounded on the spirit with a look of disbelief.

"In the flesh" he muttered sarcastically. "Once a King's helper and you're always one. Good luck to you two. The heavens know you need it," he added drily. Scorning the door, he floated away through the wall to surprised screams on the other side. "It's been a long time since I did that," they heard him say with relish as the indignant eavesdroppers were herded (reluctantly) on their way.

He reached out to gently brush a strand of hair from her eyes.

"Mai…"

The girl remained looking down and he couldn't help smirking at her sudden shyness. "I can't kiss you if you keep looking down like that," he remarked smugly. The girl's head whipped up so fast to glare at him that he barely had time to plant a small one on her cheek.

"_Naru_!" Face flaming, she tried to brush past him, but he took hold of her hand. "You shouldn't just _kiss _people like that!"

"I never kiss girls I don't like," he said, a small smile crinkling his eyes.

Mai sniffed. "And how many have you kissed?"

"Just the one," he said softly before kissing her again, this time fully on her lips.

When they finally reappeared in the observatory, smiling in the way couples in love the world over smiled with, all bets were off. A number of servants and courtiers who had witnessed or overheard the news went sadly to the kitchens to mope at their financial loses and to privately swear to never make bets against a certain bespectacled student at the university. Equally or perhaps more disappointed and disbelieving that the arrogant prince had returned to the palace with a girl were the mothers of promising debutantes who lamented the loss of one of two opportunities to marry into royalty. The Princess of Nihon had ridden off one rosy evening, accompanied by an additional knightly escort a day later. The King and the Queen breathed a sigh of relief and stopped despairing over their son's love life, the prince's twin brother hastened back to his abode in the Academy _away_ from the debutantes' mothers, a teary-eyed enchantress was being comforted by the minister of trade: "You should be more upset! Your ward's all grown up!" Sir Takigawa and Lady Ayako were nowhere to be found, but it was assumed that they did not in fact _wanted_ to be. In typical fashion, the prince had scoffed at them all and after requesting for among other things, a fresh pot of tea and _privacy_ – he did not live in an alehouse if you didn't already know, retired to an obscure part of the palace with a blushing Mai where it was assumed that they would begin to _live happily ever after_.

* * *

**_Author's notes_**: And here it is! The full, complete story. It's been an amazing experience and I'm still honestly and humbly surprised at how well recieved it is. As for direct queries and subtle hinting around the question of sequels, the perverse answer is _yes and no_. It's not for a lack of ideas, believe me, but I don't think I've the kind of crazy determination to do another twenty chapters in Fairytale Land so quickly. Having said that, do keep your eyes peeled. I might resurrect it when I feel more prepared to. In the mean time, I'll be back to working on _Fortune's Wheel _and possibly one or two new projects I do happen to have in mind.  
Updates, as always, are in my profile.


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